2025’s Top Careers: What’s Hot in Hiring Right Now

Hello, and thank you to everyone tuning in to today’s episode of The Hirewell Update. I’m your host, Ryan Brown, vice president of our corporate functions team. And this is my co host I’m Emily Goor, director on our go to market recruiting team. Before we kick off the show, you can find all of our content at talentinsights.hirewell.com. Or if you’d like to learn more about Hirewell, our service offerings, check out our website, www.hirewell.com. Hey there Em, it’s the first episode of 2025. Can you believe it? Um, I mean, I can believe it, given how busy we’ve been. Um, we’ve missed you all watching. Sorry, it’s been a minute.

It’s been, um, it’s been, somebody said to me today, like, ooh, it’s been quite the day. I’m like, it’s been quite the January. It’s been something. So, um, really excited to be finally sitting down with you for our first show ever. I know. I know. Like you said, it’s been a busy start to the quarter, which is super exciting.

We love a busy January. That is for sure. But we’re excited to get back to some normalcy with The Hirewell Update. Um, so really excited about today’s show. Um, and to kick things off this year, you know, we really just want to talk about what the fast growing roles are across various industries. I saw an article recently.

On LinkedIn that was titled jobs on the rise, which basically highlighted a list of the fastest growing roles across different industries in this upcoming year. So it’s clear that some sectors are not only surviving what has been more of the current market, but they’re thriving in it to thriving. I think, okay, let’s dive deeper into some of these roles.

I know. We’re talking about the rise of AI engineers. I feel like we’re talking about this as a company today, like the resurgence travel advisors also, and even some sustainability specialists. There’s a lot, a lot to unpack though. So I guess let’s start to get into it. Let’s get into it. And obviously, starting with one of the biggest trends, AI, like you said, this is something we actually talked about today in a leadership meeting internally here at Hirewell, but it’s absolutely no surprise that artificial intelligence is changing the way that we work.

And the next few roles are basically all about that. So 1st up artificial intelligence engineers take it away. Um, yeah. So. AI engineers basically design, develop, implement AI models and algorithms. These people are basically building the tools that optimize, like, processes and solve complex problems.

I think some of the most common skills for this role are things like large language models. Natural language processing and PyTorch. I know, hopefully I got all that right. I know sometimes you and I talk tech and we’re a little bit, you know, fish out of water. But yeah, that’s what I do for you.

Absolutely. Well, it’s exciting to hear all of this stuff. And obviously the demand is massive for these types of engineers. I mean, specifically to in tech hubs, thinking San Francisco, New York, and even Boston and remote work and flexibility and all of that is. Still a hot topic. There’s this push to go back into the office, but these roles in particular offering like 35 percent of these are fully remote, which is exciting.

25 percent are hybrid, which is huge in terms of today’s workforce with that push to return back to the office. Yeah. And I think while we’re on the subject of AI too, I know we’ll, you know, stay on that subject for, for a second, but the, the demand I, you know, just to keep talking about AI consultants also, like these professionals kind of help organizations adopt and integrate AI like that, like you said, everyone’s talking about AI, so how are organizations using it and integrating it to kind of meet their own business goals.

I think it’s a role that requires, A bit more experience, probably about like four and a half years of prior work and a strong, still like a strong technical foundation, like in things like Python and and prompt engineering exactly. And like, AI engineers, I think the demand for AI consultants is definitely high in places like we mentioned, San Francisco, New York, those major tech hubs. Flexibility is also a really big factor when it comes to the AI Consultants, probably 40 percent of those are more hybrid, so it’s clear that businesses are looking, um, to be an AI to stay competitive. So this is really opening up a lot of really exciting opportunities for professionals with the right skill sets.

Of course, like you mentioned, having, you know, prior work experience is definitely needed. Yeah. And like, we’re not going to stop talking about AI this year. Like you said, we had that leadership meeting today where we were kind of just, you know, just continuing to discuss trends and like, that’s where money and investments are going right now. Everyone is investing in AI so yes, we’re going to keep talking about that all year long, but that’s I’m excited to see what else comes from it over the next year. You know, we’re obviously focusing a ton on more of the technical aspects of AI But what is this going to do to the job market as a whole?

I’m interested to see. We’ll keep talking about it for sure, but I guess for now, we’ll, we’ll shift gears a bit. Um, I actually outside of tech, I think it’s interesting. Um, I think this is an interesting area, but one that’s sort of making a comeback. I think a pretty big comeback is travel advisors. I know it’s not something we talk about super often.

So kind of, you know, a little different for us, but I think we all know travel’s been through. Some crazy times in the past few years, but now that things are really getting back to normal, people are looking to experts to help them plan dream vacations. I know, like, I don’t do it myself whenever I get to travel.

Absolutely not. Yeah, I’m actually. Funny enough, this is like really good timing. I’m in the middle of starting to plan my honeymoon. We’re going to be using a travel advisor to get that done, which is exciting. So it’s great to see that that’s back on the rise. And these folks are booking everything from your flights to accommodations to activities.

It’s taking everything off of your plate when it comes to all things travel. Um, but it’s interesting, the skills that are needed in this area. So it’s not just Travel planning, but it’s also things like social media marketing. And, um, some of the really exciting things that I found in this article was that 80 percent of travel advisors are women.

And most of them are actually in cities like New York and Los Angeles. So shout out to you Em on the West coast there. I love that obviously. Um, and if you’re wondering about flexibility, about 27 percent of travel advisors work remotely, so there’s definitely room for a bit of freedom in how you know, you do the job.

I think it’s fun to my best friends, actually, like a travel advisor on the side. I feel like I know a few people who have kind of taken that on as A side hustle. Yep. Side hustle. Um, I know she does a lot of like social media marketing too. You can follow the Cabo consultant on, on Instagram, but Oh, I love that

yeah, I think it’s great. You’ll keep us posted on your honeymoon planning too, but glad glad you have some support there. Yes, I sure will for sure. Um, one of the roles that’s making a comeback though, and this is definitely something we saw several years ago, is the need for physical therapists. So with a growing need just in, you know, health care services in general, especially post pandemic, I don’t know if we’re ever going to stop saying that, but post pandemic, um, physical therapists are definitely in high demand.

Yeah, I know you’ve been involved in some projects around physical therapy past at higher. Well, physical therapists are mainly in high demand in some major cities. Like New York, Chicago, this role has pretty minimal remote flexibility, not surprising. Yep. Nope. Like one must be in person I guess for that. Um, it’s a, you know, as you know, it’s a hands on, very people focused job.

Um, it, it makes sense. You know, not remote flexibility. You’re on site. You’re hands on. Of course, the gender breakdown here is kind of interesting too, uh, we learned that like 64 percent of physical therapists are female, correct? Yes, absolutely. Um, so chugging right along here. Another 1 of the big roles that we’re expecting to see some growth and in this upcoming year, sustainability specialist or environmental analyst.

So interchangeable in terms of titling there. Now, these are professionals that are working across a variety of industries to analyze an organization’s particular, um, environmental and social impact. So helping to design things like strategies that just, you know, aid with mitigating harm and promoting overall sustainability for organizations.

Yeah, exactly. And I think these roles are popping up everywhere, especially and again, kind of some major cities like New York and Los Angeles. Sustainabilities. It’s a top of mind like topic for so many businesses these days. Um, so if you’re passionate about the environment, this could be a great opportunity.

I know we actually ourselves have a few clients in the climate tech space. I know a couple of projects I’m working on on the sales side right now. You know, a lot of what you just mentioned in terms of environmental and social impact. And even like, you know, I know a lot of regulations coming in the U. S.

And even coming out of the EU for people to be you know, in regulation with certain sustainability laws and things of that nature. Um, definitely a, a pretty common type of tech that we’re seeing as well. Absolutely. Yeah. And 1 of the conversations we had internally today was like the, um, the forming of AI and environmental organizations, or, you know, those that are kind of touching that same space.

So, again, curious to see, like, what that transformation will be later in the year in terms of the market, how AI is also aiding these industries, aiding these particular roles. I think there’s going to be a lot of crossover here. Um, but you know, just taking a look back at everything we mentioned today, there’s a lot of exciting changes, a lot to digest.

It’s nice to see things coming back around like the tech space. This is something that was a little bit slower over the past couple years. So really exciting to see a lot of that change. And if there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that the future of work is rapidly changing and it’s also creating a ton of new opportunities, which is great.

So I think, you know, the key to just, uh, adapting to these shifts is finding ways to stay ahead of the curve, staying flexible and staying open. I feel like sometimes we’re a broken record. I feel like we always talk about flexibility and things of that nature, but absolutely. I think it’s about. I know we talked about, like, upskilling and just staying open to new industries also, like, whether it’s tech, healthcare, sustainability.

I know we talked about, like, there’s, there’s a world of opportunities out there, so, I don’t know, we hope we give this, we hope this gives you guys some insight just into what’s coming next and how you might navigate these changes, even if you’re in your own career, if you’re watching as a candidate, I know, you know, we’ll kind of start discussing just As we’re getting, like, January’s almost over, which is crazy and we’ll kind of start getting into some of the trends that we’re seeing also, like, more specifically in our areas and go to market recruiting and, you know, corporate functions, HR, finance and accounting recruiting.

I’m so excited to kind of keep diving deeper. Yeah, I am too. Um, but you know, I’m excited to hear from our viewers from folks that are watching what’s happening in your field. What are some of the trends that you’re seeing? If you’ve heard of any new roles that are coming up this year, the resurgence of some roles that you previously saw, we’d love to hear from you.

So, um, let us know in the comments what you’re seeing. Yeah, definitely drop a comment. Um, maybe even you’ll give us inspiration for our next, our next show. Absolutely. Believe it or not. We read all the comments. Yeah, well, there’s not, there’s usually not like too many to go through, so it’s like, you know, it’s pretty easy ask, but we do, yes, we do, absolutely.

Well, amazing. I don’t have much else today. What about you? I don’t have much else either, except it’s been great to get back into The Hirewell Update seat with you. Um, I’m excited. I don’t even know how many years we’ve been doing this at this point, but I love that we have a whole new season to look forward to excited to get back into our regular cadence on this again.

We are. Thanks for your patience, y’all. But we’re, we’re, we’re back. We’re back. Happy 2025. For, for this week, that’s it. That’s a wrap on this week’s episode of The Hirewell Update. Thank you all so much for joining us. As a reminder, you can find all of our content at talentinsights.hirewell.com or if you’d like to learn more about Hirewell and our service offerings, check out our website. It’s www.hirewell.com. Thanks again for joining and we hope you tune in next time. See you then.