Career Growth
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Career Growth
The 15 Fastest-Growing Careers in 2026: Where the Jobs Are
Our analysis of hiring trends across 21,000+ companies reveals which roles are seeing the most explosive growth — and which are declining.
Rachel Foster
Career Development Editor
March 26, 20267 min read
The job market is shifting rapidly. By analyzing hiring patterns, salary growth, and demand signals across our database of 21,000+ companies, we've identified the careers with the strongest growth trajectories.
Top 15 Fastest-Growing Roles
- AI/ML Engineer — 156% growth in job postings YoY
- Climate/Sustainability Analyst — 134% growth
- Healthcare Data Scientist — 112% growth
- Cybersecurity Architect — 98% growth
- Renewable Energy Engineer — 89% growth
- Product Manager (AI) — 87% growth
- Behavioral Health Specialist — 82% growth
- DevSecOps Engineer — 78% growth
- Financial Crime Analyst — 73% growth
- UX Researcher — 67% growth
- Supply Chain Data Analyst — 64% growth
- Telemedicine Coordinator — 61% growth
- ESG Compliance Officer — 58% growth
- Robotics Technician — 54% growth
- Content Strategy Manager — 49% growth
Salary Growth Leaders
The roles seeing the fastest salary growth don't always match the hiring growth leaders:
| Role | 2024 Median | 2026 Median | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI/ML Engineer | $145,000 | $195,000 | +34% |
| Cybersecurity Architect | $155,000 | $198,000 | +28% |
| Climate Analyst | $72,000 | $91,000 | +26% |
| Healthcare Data Scientist | $118,000 | $148,000 | +25% |
Declining Roles
Not all careers are growing. These roles have seen significant decline:
- Traditional Data Entry (-45%)
- Print Media Production (-38%)
- Basic IT Support (-29%)
- Manual QA Testing (-24%)
- Traditional Accounting Clerk (-21%)
What This Means for Job Seekers
The common thread in growing careers: they require a combination of domain expertise and technical skills. Pure technical roles and pure domain roles are both being disrupted. The future belongs to "T-shaped" professionals who go deep in one area while maintaining breadth across adjacent skills.
Use our company profiles to identify which organizations are investing most heavily in these growing areas — they're the ones most likely to offer career growth opportunities.
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