Changing Global Job Role Landscapes

It is common cause that the advent of Covid-19 at the beginning of 2020 heralded a new world of work, and with it, new roles and responsibilities. The pandemic, juxtaposed with the acceleration of AI globally resulted in a number of job roles becoming obsolete, and replaced with so-called ‘new norm’ employment categories, or roles. Businesses around the world have had to shift their recruitment focus, seeking nowadays to harness the talents of AI specialists, robotic engineers, and cyber security experts - roles that were largely non-existent a few years ago.

However, according to Bruce Anderson’s Jobs on the Rise LinkedIn report, positions that "

experienced explosive growth have shifted to more timeless or traditional roles - educators, healthcare workers, and salespeople - or age-old positions operating in new channels such as digital content creators, digital marketers, and e-commerce workers. In many cases, the skyrocketing demand for these roles has been a response to the effects of Covid-19 on consumers, companies, and communities".

The Jobs on the Rise list features the fastest-growing job trends from 2020 and the skills needed in those positions. Data gathered by LinkedIn between April and October 2020 was compared with that from the same period in 2019 to identify the fastest-growing job categories in 14 countries around the world and included South East Asia which grouped Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand collectively.

The top 3 jobs per country according to Jobs on the Rise are:

Australia

1. Healthcare/medical frontline workers

2. Construction workers

3. Professionals on the frontline of e-commerce

Brazil

1. Specialised medical professionals

2. Technology roles

3. Pharmaceutical/research roles

France

1. Supermarket and retail workers

2. Specialised medical professionals

3. Real estate employees

Germany

1. Digital content freelancers

2. Legal professionals

3. Professionals on the frontline of e-commerce

India

1. Freelance content specialists

2. Social media/digital marketing roles

3. Marketing roles

Italy

1. Education roles

2. Specialised medical professionals

3. Digital marketing specialists

Mexico

1. Specialised medical professionals

2. Business development & sales roles

3. Creative services employees

Netherlands

1. Education roles

2. Specialised medical professionals

3. Customer service roles

Singapore

1. Healthcare/medical support workers

2. Education roles

3. Logistics & supply chain employees

Spain

1. Education roles

2. Specialised medical professionals

3. Healthcare support staff

Sweden

1. Professionals on the frontline of e-commerce

2. Retail workers

3. Specialised medical professionals

United Arab Emirates

1. Specialized medical professionals

2. Digital content freelancers

3. Healthcare support staff

United Kingdom

1. Professionals on the frontline of e-commerce

2. Healthcare support staff

3. Digital content freelancers

United States

1. Professionals on the frontline of e-commerce

2. Loan and mortgage experts

3. Healthcare support staff

South East Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand)

1. Digital Content Freelancers

2. Data Analyst

3. Software & Engineering Roles

LinkedIn’s Future of Work found that in many countries, the fastest-growing job categories occurred in the commercial sector, namely, finance (top 10 in six countries including South East Asia), real estate (four countries), and customer services (six countries and South East Asia). Although the overwhelming emphasis was on software, data, and technology (according to last year’s report) these categories remained in the top 10 in five countries and South East Asia for the year under review.

Healthcare workers

The onset of the coronavirus pandemic necessitated hospitals, medi-clinics and other medical institutions having to recruit doctors, nurses, and paramedics. Frontline or specialized medical professionals were one of the top three emerging job categories in nine countries, and in four, namely, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates, it is the number 1 category.

The pandemic also created a critical need for healthcare support personnel. These healthcare support workers oftentimes assist doctors and nurses with patients whilst at other times they are themselves providing care to patients who are unable, or reluctant to visit their doctors in hospitals or medical centers. Healthcare support staff, including patient services coordinators, healthcare assistants, and home health aides/caregivers, is a top ten emerging job category in 12 countries and South East Asia according to the LinkedIn report.

The pandemic amplified the pre-existing issue of a shortage of suitably qualified nursing staff around the world. Many retired and/or retrenched nurses around the world have had to come out of retirement or have been re-employed to address this shortage.

E-commerce workers

The effect of Covid-19 continues to confine people around the world to their homes. This has resulted in a number of online companies prospering greatly due to the pandemic. Amazon, for example, recruited no fewer than 425,000 people between January and October 2020. From July 2020 onwards, Amazon were hiring close to 2,800 employees a day.

‘This unprecedented global hiring spree helped make e-commerce workers such as drivers, supply chain specialists, warehouse team leaders, package handlers, and many others one of the top 10 fastest-growing job categories in South East Asia and 11 of the 14 countries we examined’ according to the LinkedIn report.

E-commerce was expected to grow by 19% globally in 2020 and by 40% in the United States alone. ‘We have seen signs that online purchasing trends formed during the (earlier stages) of the pandemic may see permanent adoption,’ said Taylor Schreiner, Director of Adobe Digital Insights.

As e-commerce businesses enhanced and grew their teams around the world, they recruited people with backgrounds in either sales or marketing. In Germany, for example, the top three previous roles for e-commerce coordinators were account managers, sales personnel, and head of sales, whilst in Singapore, the top two previous roles for the same position were marketing executives and marketing specialists.

Educators

Learners and students from preschool to colleges and universities moved to virtual classrooms for the better part of 2020. In Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands, educators, namely, classroom teachers, professors, principals, tutors, and academic administrators were the number 1 emerging job category. They were a top ten job in 11 countries and South East Asia.

The new educational reality created a critical need for tutors to assist learners and students who were not able to attend classes, lectures, libraries, and science labs, in person. As in the case of nursing and healthcare workers, the pandemic exposed a pre-existing teacher shortage in some parts of the world. Many of the top skills for educators/teachers are very education-specific, i.e., curriculum development, classroom management, lesson planning, and of course, e-learning.

Content creators

In countries such as India, Germany and South East Asia, digital content specialists, or freelancer is the number 1 emerging job category, this role featuring in the top ten in another seven countries. Bloggers, podcasters, and YouTubers are in demand as companies around the world look to create both tactical and strategic content that will help their customers/clients make sense of the new and rapidly changing environments around the world.

Businesses seeking to recruit content specialists are looking at hiring those already working as editors, writers, journalists, videographers, and graphic designers.

Personal and Professional Coaches

Covid and its resultant lockdowns and shutdowns generated both the impetus and the opportunity for self-improvement according to the LinkedIn report. Personal and professional coaches were one of the 10 fastest-growing jobs in seven countries.

As jobs were eliminated, or redesigned, at the beginning of the pandemic, people seized the opportunity of developing new skills and competencies for themselves. For example, in the first week of April 2020, 1,7 million hours of content on LinkedIn Learning were watched by people around the world. This was three times the amount watched by people during the first week of January 2020.

Coaches come from a large and diverse range of backgrounds, from teachers and academics to business owners and business leaders, from fitness instructors to recruitment specialists. Some of the most common skills required for coaches include leadership development, time management, facilitation, and executive coaching.

Business development/sales roles

As Covid-19 impacted businesses globally, companies were forced to critically reassess their business strategies and, in so doing, assess their new realities. They embarked on a process of harnessing talent to help them navigate their businesses back to sustained viability. In eight countries and in South East Asia, business development and sales roles were a top 10 fastest-growing job category.

Some of the skills that are sought for people in business development and sales roles around the world include sales management, strategic planning, and negotiation. Businesses seeking to recruit strategic advisors/consultants cast their recruitment nets in the direction of those who were at one time, business owners, business founders, CEOs, or managing directors prior to Covid.

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