These six-figure jobs are seeing rising demand heading into 2025 (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — Some six-figure positions are seeing a swell in demand, despite a softening job market nationally.
A new report from Payscale Inc. crunched the numbers on 1.6 million job postings and found a surge among some highly-paid positions this year compared to 2023. That list is dominated by health-care jobs, including:
- MRI/CT technician: Median pay, $123,000; job-posting growth, 200%
- Pharmacist/pharmacy director: Median pay, $137,000; job-posting growth, 130%
- EKG technician: Median pay, $125,000; job-posting growth, 118%
- Cytogenetic technologist: Median pay, $111,000; job-posting growth, 105%
- Ultrasound technologist: Median pay, $119,000; job-posting growth, 99%
- Computer scientist: Median pay, $157,000; job-posting growth, 82%
The Bureau of Labor Statistics also found health care and social assistant jobs consistently ranked among the fastest growing in the past few months. Those job openings grew by about 1.3 million in October, ranking third behind education and health services, and business services. Meanwhile, quit rates within the industry are higher than average, meaning employers need to fill more job openings.
Health-care jobs are projected to grow much faster than the average of all occupations, according to the BLS. From 2023 to 2033, there will be about 1.9 million job openings.
Other types of jobs also saw a jump in job postings but they don’t pay nearly as much, according to Payscale. They include personal shoppers, with a median pay of $42,600, as well as door-to-door sales representatives, at $52,000, and community health workers, at $48,900.
The picture is different when ranking jobs by wage growth over the past year, as opposed to employer growth in job postings. Payscale found the top 10 jobs saw year-over-year salary growth between 13% and 20%. That follows 2023’s top 10 job postings that saw year-over-year wage growth of between 18% and 24%.
The list, which contains both both white-collar and blue-collar positions, reflects a continued evolution of the job market.
Not found among the top 10 are technology jobs. Payscale in its analysis said the tech sector “is still reacting to high interest rates with slower growth and more attention on efficiency.” It added the adoption of artificial-intelligence programs may also be impacting the industry, especially software development.
Job market will continue to be ‘lukewarm’ in 2025
Workers who recently quit their jobs might find themselves in a newly competitive environment.
Depending on the industry, job seekers will either be greeted with open arms or be given the silent treatment by potential employers. Job postings remain about 10% higher than the pre-pandemic baseline but are far below their 2022 peak, according to recent data from Indeed.
Some industries — such as pharmacy, manufacturing and a few types of engineering roles — have seen substantial declines in job postings, according to Indeed. Meanwhile, quit rates, or the rate at which employees voluntarily leave their companies, have fallen to levels not seen since 2016.
Cory Stahle, an economist at Indeed, said there has been a divergence in the job market, where knowledge workers in roles that typically require a college education are having a much tougher time finding jobs than those in fields like manufacturing, health care and construction.
And while tech company layoffs tend to garner big headlines, that industry is a small fraction of the overall economy, Stahle added. Those jobs have seen a particularly big dropoff in demand from their pandemic peaks.
The American Staffing Association, working with the Harris Poll, found in a recent survey 40% of unemployed job seekers have not had a single interview in the past 12 months. The survey also found 42% of unemployed job seekers applied to 10 or more jobs this year.
About 60% of Americans surveyed by the American Staffing Association said they believe the job-search process is too impersonal while 72% said applying for jobs feels like “sending their resume into the void.”