Sales jobs have changed dramatically in recent decades. While aggressively pitching products made sense in manufacturing-centric models, much of the world has shifted to a service-based economy, requiring salespeople to consultatively solve problems, selling solutions instead of products.
One thing that hasn’t changed about sales: It’s still vital to business and continually in high demand. The share of paid job posts on LinkedIn for sales agents and customer assistants more than doubled over the past three months — making them the top two jobs with the fastest-growing demand in the second quarter of 2024. At the same time, salesperson has been the single most in-demand role overall.
The latest LinkedIn data also revealed growing demand for roles in healthcare, administration, and information technology, along with consistent demand for engineering and frontline jobs.
What are the most in-demand jobs right now?
Whether you’re recruiting for these roles in particular or simply curious about broader labor market trends, read on for the full rankings and reflections on the most in-demand jobs.
This story is updated on a quarterly basis to help talent professionals manage expectations, inform hiring decisions, and understand the changing landscape of the talent market.
Jobs with the fastest-growing demand: sales and customer service roles rise to the top
Four of the top ten roles with the fastest-growing demand fall into the sales and customer service functions: Along with the top two already mentioned (sales agent and customer assistant), floor manager and customer service supervisor also landed on the list, both seeing about a 50% increase in their share of paid job posts on LinkedIn. (And while it might sound like a sales role to some American ears, the role of solicitor — the job with the third-fastest growing demand — actually refers to legal practitioners in many Commonwealth countries.)
Jobs with the Fastest-Growing Demand (QoQ)
Roles with the greatest quarter-over-quarter increase in share of paid job posts, Q2 (April 1 – June 30, 2024) vs. Q1 (January 1 – March 31, 2024)
- Sales agent (+163% increase)
- Customer assistant (+118%)
- Solicitor (+85%)
- PHP developer (+76%)
- Patient coordinator (+76%)
- Medical doctor (+71%)
- Payroll clerk (+71%)
- Director of analytics (+53%)
- Floor manager (+51%)
- Customer service supervisor (+50%)
The healthcare function — beset by staffing shortages even before the pandemic — also makes the list with both patient coordinator and medical doctor roles seeing greater than 70% increases in demand quarter-over-quarter. Fortunately for hirers, there’s a growing base of healthcare workers on LinkedIn: the talent pool has grown by 35% over the past five years.
Two tech roles are also among the jobs with the fastest-growing demand: PHP developer and director of analytics saw about 75% and 50% increases, respectively. The former role focuses on web development, while the latter oversees data-driven decision-making.
Most in-demand jobs overall: rankings remarkably stable, with sales and engineering still on top
While the list above focuses on the biggest increases in demand over the past quarter, the list below details the jobs with the highest demand overall — that is, the highest number of paid job posts on LinkedIn. In other words, the previous list is designed to magnify recent changes, while the list below is a simple snapshot of the top jobs.
As such, we don’t expect the most in-demand jobs overall to change much — but even we were surprised at how little the list changed this quarter.
Most In-Demand Jobs (Q2 2024)
Roles with the greatest number of paid LinkedIn job posts, Q2 (April 1 – June 30, 2024)
- Salesperson (no change in rank vs. previous quarter)
- Retail salesperson (no change)
- Software engineer (no change)
- Registered nurse (no change)
- Project manager (no change)
- Sales manager (no change)
- Customer service representative (no change)
- Full stack engineer (no change)
- Driver (+13)
- Cashier (+8)
Sales remains on top, along with engineering, nursing, and project management rounding out the top five — exactly the same as in last quarter’s edition. The only two changes were the rise and return of driver and cashier jobs, both of them frontline roles that have appeared in this list in the past.
Final thoughts
The strong demand for sales and frontline retail roles may be due to the declining risks of a global recession. This trend, coupled with the increased demand for roles in healthcare, administration, and information technology, underscores the dynamic nature of the job market. As you navigate these changes, staying informed and adaptable remains key to meeting the evolving demands of your business.
Methodology
Based on global LinkedIn data on all premium job posts from January 2024 up to and including June 2024. The most in-demand jobs are those with the highest number of job posts in the most recent quarter (April 1 – June 30, 2024). The jobs with the fastest-growing demand are those with the greatest growth rate, with growth rate calculated by the share of job posts in the most recent quarter relative to the previous quarter (January 1 – March 31, 2024). Roles with fewer than 1,000 job posts in either quarter and roles for which the majority of job posts come from a single company were excluded from this analysis.
