Knowing where the job market is heading across the year is vital information for those who hope to change roles, or even industries, in the coming months.
Insights suggest thousands of UK professionals aim to be finding a new place to work, or at least a change of role, across the coming year, and we’ve already seen recently that some jobs remain unaffected by the rise or incorporation of artificial intelligence – while others can expect to be severely impacted in one way or another.
Now another study has identified the jobs which are set to face a boom across the coming year…and which face rather more struggle, based on earnings across the last year and data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
The sectors with the best rising earnings, according to the Telegraph, include prison service officers, sheet metal workers and education advisers or inspectors, which all saw more than a 20 per cent increase in salary last year.
However, at the other end of the scale were psychologists, residential wardens and accounting professionals, all down between eight and ten per cent – with journalists and reporters the hardest hit by far, with earnings down a whopping 23 per cent for the year.
A rising salary base can be a sign of strong growth in a job sector as demand for new roles can push up wages.
Air travel assistants were the highest growth area in this regard, with the role referring to workers issuing boarding passes, examining documentation and providing airport assistance. Salaries for those professionals went up by a massive 56 per cent last year, according to the study, while the education sector – in certain jobs at least – also features highly.
Exam invigilator pay rose 39 per cent, with school inspectors’ salaries up 20.7 per cent. However, pay for education professionals – not detailed as to what exactly is included in that – fell ten per cent across the year.
The top few on each side, per ONS data, were:
|
Job |
Salary increase % |
Job |
Salary decrease % |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Air travel assistants |
56 |
Newspaper journalists/reporters |
23.3 |
|
Exam inviligators |
39 |
Houseparents/residential wardens |
11.5 |
|
Prison service officers |
23.3 |
Psychologists |
10.2 |
|
Sheet metal workers |
21.6 |
Education professionals |
10 |
|
Cleaning/housekeeping managers |
21.5 |
Financial and accounting technicians |
8.3 |
|
Water and sewerage plant operatives |
21.4 |
Travel agents |
7.2 |
|
Pipe fitters |
21.1 |
Veterinarians |
7.1 |
Factoring in entire industries, five different areas saw at least a 100 per cent rise in workers – in other words, at least doubling – while sectors which saw jobs contracting was topped by pipe fitters, down 67 per cent.
As pay for pipe fitters was up 21 per cent across the year, it highlights how the number of jobs and salary on offer can be two different sides of the same coin, albeit not always equally weighted.
Increases in salaries and job security contribute to more consumer spending, which in turn can fuel a growing economy, which in a virtuous circle will further create more jobs. This is not always in a balanced and across the board manner, however, meaning workers must be aware of how their own industry or role faces change in the year ahead.
