The Fastest-Growing Jobs Around the World

A year ago, when many of us were eagerly awaiting vaccines so we could “get back to normal,” the most in-demand roles tended to be those that had stood the test of time: educators, healthcare workers, and salespeople. There was also a big demand for traditional roles that had shifted into new channels, such as digital content creators, digital marketers, and e-commerce workers.

Now, the fastest-growing jobs are something of a hybrid, partly in the pandemic world and partly bursting free from it. As always, job growth is being fueled by global trends, such as COVID-19, the tight labor market, and an increased emphasis on artificial intelligence. That means that, yes, there’s still a huge call for traditional roles such as healthcare workers (especially in North America) and people who work in core business functions. And these days, what could be more core than recruiters? They’re in huge demand all around the world. As well, the demand for high-tech workers has surged to what feels like pre-pandemic levels.

That’s what we found in our Jobs on the Rise reports, which examines LinkedIn data to calculate the job titles experiencing the highest growth rates from January 2017 through July 2021 in countries across the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. 

First, let’s start by looking at what’s happening around the globe: 

Top 3 Jobs on the Rise by Country

(click on the country name to read its report and see its full list)

Australia

1. Chief human resources officer

2. Machine learning engineer

3. Site reliability engineer

Brazil 

1. Technical recruiter

2. Site reliability engineer

3. Data engineer

Canada

1. Vaccine specialist

2. Diversity and inclusion manager

3. Public health nurse

Egypt

1. Media buyer

2. Machine learning engineer

3. Talent acquisition specialist

France

1. Sales operations manager

2. Business development representative

3. Billing associate

Germany

1. Public sector consultant

2. Product analyst

3. Business development representative 

India

1. Affiliate marketing specialist

2. Site reliability engineer

3. Molecular biologist

Indonesia

1. Data science specialist

2. Machine learning engineer

3. Patient access representative 

Italy

1. Robotics engineer

2. Machine learning engineer

3. Cloud architect

Japan

1. Customer engineer

2. Business development representative

3. Software account executive 

Malaysia

1. Geographic information system analyst

2. Medical laboratory scientist

3. Information technology associate 

Mexico

1. Business development representative

2. User experience researcher

3. Data engineer

Netherlands

1. Freight forwarder

2. Machine learning engineer

3. Robotics engineer

Philippines

1. Media buyer

2. Clinical research associate

3. Salesforce consultant 

Poland

1. Site reliability engineer

2. Machine learning engineer

3. Data engineer

Saudi Arabia

1. Cybersecurity specialist 

2. Legal specialist

3. Human resources operations specialist

Singapore

1. Machine learning engineer

2. Healthcare assistant

3. Back-end developer

Spain

1. Site reliability engineer

2. Business development representative

3. Cloud architect 

Sweden

1. Talent acquisition specialist

2. Business development representative

3. Data engineer 

United Arab Emirates

1. Immigration attorney

2. Content coordinator

3. Back-end developer

United Kingdom

1. Customs officer

2. Machine learning engineer

3. Import specialist

United States 

1. Vaccine specialist

2. Diversity and inclusion manager

3. Customer marketing manager 

Overall, we found that the fastest-growing job categories were in technology, which was consistent with trends from before the pandemic. Every one of the countries we looked at included tech among their top 10 fastest-growing jobs. Core business functions, such as recruiting and business development, accounted for the rapidly growing jobs in all but two of the countries. There was also increased demand for jobs in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) sector, such as in sustainability (highly in demand in Europe) and diversity and inclusion (particularly in North America). 

Let’s look at some of the key takeaways from this year’s report: 

Desperately seeking talent: Everyone wants recruiters now 

After workers worldwide quit their jobs in droves in 2021, companies suddenly found themselves scrambling to fill positions. That meant the demand for recruiters was greater than ever, and recruiters were often tasked with recruiting other recruiters. 

Talent acquisition was among the top 10 fastest-growing roles in 12 countries we looked at, including France, India, and Australia. In Brazil, technical recruiter was the No. 1 fastest-growing job overall, while talent acquisition specialist also topped the list in Sweden. This is in line with what LinkedIn found in its own job listings. After demand for recruiters fell sharply at the beginning of the pandemic, postings for talent acquisition jobs started to spike again at the beginning of 2021, finally surpassing pre-pandemic levels as the year went on.

AI is here to stay: Surging demand for tech engineers

Artificial intelligence is playing an increasing role in our daily lives, running everything from our vehicles to our smartphones to even our refrigerators. So, it’s little surprise that the single fastest-growing job around the world was that of machine learning engineer. This role appeared in the top 10 for 15 countries, including Sweden, India, and the United States. In Singapore, it was the fastest-growing role. And in eight countries, including the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Poland, it was the No. 2 fastest-growing role. 

On the tech front, there’s also a huge demand for site reliability engineers, the techies that employ software engineering and automation to solve problems and manage production systems in large-scale organizations. In mid-January, there were more than 176,000 listings for these engineers on LinkedIn, and they’re in high demand in countries such as Brazil, Poland, and Australia. In Spain, it was the single fastest-growing job. 

But with this demand, there’s also a unique opportunity for recruiters to create more gender equity. According to our Jobs on the Rise data, 22.5% of the machine learning engineers hired in 2021 in the U.S. were women, bringing their total to 19.47% of the machine learning engineers currently in the U.S. workforce. That’s in line with the numbers in a report from the U.K.’s Alan Turing Institute, which found that women make up around 20% of the AI workforce worldwide. 

The virus just keep surging: Vaccine specialists get a boost 

In both Canada and the United States, the fastest-growing job was that of vaccine specialist. This title is a broad umbrella for a variety of roles, including positions in research, development, production, and distribution of vaccines, as well as medical sales. 

It makes sense that vaccine specialists are in demand, considering how the pandemic has gone. According to the World Health Organization, there have been more than 315 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide since the pandemic began. At the same time, 59.6% of the world’s population have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination — which means there are still a lot of arms awaiting a jab.

So, while these roles may not have the longevity that people generally want in a career (someday, the pandemic will end!), they are critical in 2022. And in Canada, the need for healthcare workers of all kinds continues to grow. Three of its top five fastest-growing careers are in healthcare. Along with vaccine specialists, there’s a huge demand for public health nurses and public health specialists. 

The show must go on: Businesses seek growth, virus or not

In an indication that companies are trying to bounce back from the pandemic and keep an eye on growth, the No. 2 fastest-growing job globally is that of business development representative. These are the folks who do the market research, make the cold calls and emails, increase brand visibility, and generate new business leads, so that the sales representatives can seal the deal.

In mid-January, there were more than 57,000 postings on LinkedIn for this role, and the job was among the top 10 fastest-growing jobs in 14 countries. It was the No. 1 fastest-growing job in Mexico and the No. 2 in France and Japan. 

The call for business development representatives appears against a somewhat stark assessment of the global economy. At the beginning of the year, The World Bank said that the pace of global economic growth was expected to slow in 2022, as the pandemic bumps up against rising prices and supply chain challenges. That’s true for developing nations, but also for the world’s largest economies, the United States and China, which are expected to see only moderate gains. Based on the need for business development representatives, however, it seems that companies are staying focused on growth. 

Making the world a better place: People and planet take precedence 

Finally, there are a few regional trends worth noting because of the potential good they hold, both for business and the world. 

In the United States and Canada, the No. 2 fastest-growing job was for diversity and inclusion managers. According to LinkedIn data, the number of people globally with the head of diversity title more than doubled (107% growth) from 2015 to 2020. The number with the director of diversity title grew 75% and chief diversity officer, 68%. There was also a 71% increase worldwide in DEI roles. 

The United Kingdom, on a prorated basis, has almost twice as many DEI employees as any other country. Australia, the United States, Ireland, and Canada round out the top five. 

As organizations show an increasing concern for all people, they’re also turning their focus to the planet, particularly after the devastating wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and other climate change–related events the world has experienced in the last few years. This is especially true in Europe, where sustainability manager is one of the fastest-growing jobs. It was listed among the top 10 in Italy, Germany, and Sweden, as well as Singapore. And it ranks in the top 15 in Spain and the Netherlands, which is the only country to also include ecologist among its fastest-growing jobs.

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