Here are the top jobs for 2024 — by the numbers

Entering 2023, workplace leaders kept their budgets tight as economists predicted a recession, thanks to rising interest rates and accelerating layoffs. But as the year officially comes to a close, the worst is likely behind us, and the same folks are predicting that hiring will significantly improve over the course of 2024.

Thanks to career trend experts at Indeed, Zip Recruiter and Glassdoor, we’re able to paint a picture as to what’s ahead for the new year, including what industries and jobs will rise to the top.

Here’s a breakdown by the numbers of the top 10 roles to keep an eye on in the new year, according to data from ZipRecruiter.

10 

Manager, corporate marketing has seen growing interest in 2023, being placed in the top five list of jobs with the most applicant competition and the average number of clicks per job posting at 394.

9

IT consulting directors have seen significant interest on ZipRecruiter, with 321 clicks per job posting. With AI on the rise, experts predict so will other tech-related jobs.

8

Virtual office assistants might be a little more common in 2024. Someone on X even shared that their dentist’s reception desk is manned by a woman in the Philippines on video. The average number of clicks per job posting was 273, putting it in the top ten for applicant competition in 2023. 

7

The sales industry continued to gain traction in 2023 and heading into 2024. A sales representative is in the top three most common jobs, according to ZipRecruiter. It’s also in the top five fastest growing jobs with a 53% year over year change. An advertising sales representative saw a 46% year over year growth rate.

6

Remote data entry specialist roles have risen from 130 job listings in 2022 to 6,607 in 2023. Similarly, virtual data entry clerks are also on the rise, with job listings going from 17 to 7,710 in the same time period. Data entry processor listings have received an average number of 208 clicks per job listing.

“Data entry is one of the business support roles that has shifted to being remote in a big way,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter. “So the roles are in very high demand.”

5

Cyber network defender roles are growing in importance alongside the generative AI boom. While there were only two job listings for this role on ZipRecruiter in 2022, there were 562 in 2023.

“That’s going to continue to grow,” said Pollak. 

4

In-store product demonstrators are on the rise, and it’s the perfect role for someone who is looking to bring a product from the office out into the world and to life. This role had a 31,680% increase in job listings this year.

“Employers are looking for higher value ways to employ people in their stores as salespeople and product experts who can encourage people once they’re in the store to part with as much money as possible,” said Pollak.

3

People insight manager job listings grew from just one last year to 522 this year. 

“We’ve seen a lot more focus on the people function at companies, especially since the pandemic,” said Pollak. “Labor shortages and retention challenges forced many companies to invest more in recruiting and retaining talent. HR and talent management have gained a seat in the boardroom in many companies and are increasingly overseeing business strategy and not just administration.”

2

Account growth specialists are in the top five fastest growing jobs, according to ZipRecruiter. In 2023, there were 632 job postings, up from just one the year before.

1

You guessed it — generative AI jobs are surging more than anything else. Indeed’s 2024 U.S. Jobs and Hiring Trends Report found that at the beginning of 2023, 0.003% of job postings mentioned terms related to Generative AI. By the end of August, this share stood at 0.05%. Of course, only 5 in 10,000 job postings means it’s still uncommon, but it shows how quickly it is growing.

“I imagine it will grow in the year ahead,” said Nick Bunker, Indeed’s director of economic research. “What’s going to be interesting to track is the kinds of jobs that are meshing with AI.”

We know one of them so far. According to ZipRecruiter, the role of an AI content writer had only one listing in 2022. In 2023, that rose to 7,084 listings — the highest increase they saw on their site.

“This is a very rapidly growing area,” said Pollak. “Those content writer roles are mostly freelance postings. There are emerging labor marketplaces that are connecting people who can write AI content with the many tech companies and website owners who are seeking ways to add that kind of content to their website to flush it out.”