LinkedIn Reveals the In-Demand Roles for 2026 & What the Latest Job Reports Signal

Additional Resources

• ADP® National Employment Report
• BLS JOLTS Report
• LinkedIn Jobs on the Rise 2026

Transcript

Pete Newsome: 0:00

Welcome to Cornering the Job Market for Wednesday, January 7th. Today’s headlines are all about data. We have an ADP report that shows hiring hasn’t stopped, but has definitely slowed. The first BLS report of the year came out this morning, and LinkedIn published a list that tells us exactly which jobs are growing the fastest. Let’s start with some goodish news. The U.S. added jobs in December, but there are clear winners and losers. ADP’s National Employment Report was released this morning, and it shows private employers added 41,000 jobs in December. That’s a rebound from November’s 29,000 decline, but it did miss expectations of 48,000 jobs. So no real momentum yet, but at least we’re headed in a positive direction, and we’ll take it. There were two big industry winners: Education and Health Services added 39,000 jobs, and leisure and hospitality added 24,000. But make no mistake, these are demand-driven jobs. These companies are hiring because they have to. And information dropped 12,000 jobs. The 29,000 in business and professional services matters. That’s white-collar corporate discretionary hiring. And that pulled back really hard.

1:19

So all of this supports what I just said. Companies are hiring right now, and industries as a whole are hiring because they have to, not because they’re experiencing a lot of growth. Regionally, the West suffered the biggest hit. They lost 61,000 jobs, which was uh almost all from the Pacific region, while the South and Northeast added jobs. So again, a bright spot, worth acknowledging wherever we can see it. For pay, job stayers uh are up 4.4% year over year, and job changers 6.6%. So switching jobs, there’s still a benefit to that, but the gap isn’t widening. So nothing, no, no real changes there. Uh the bottom line is hiring hasn’t collapsed, but we’re not seeing any reason to have uh that confidence is coming back either. So that’s what private employers are reporting. Let’s look at what the government’s telling us. The first BLS report of the new year came out this morning. The Jolts report for November shows 7.1 million openings, which is down from a revised 7.4 million in October. There were 885,000 fewer openings in November than there were a year ago, so worker demand has clearly declined. Hires were 5.1 million, which is down from 5.3 million the previous month, and separations were also at 5.1 million, which is essentially unchanged month over month. There are various signals by industry.

2:41

Job openings fell in accommodation and food services down by 148,000, transportation and warehousing down 108k, and wholesale trade down 63,000. The biggest increase in job openings came from construction. That was up 90,000. Quits held steady at 3.2 million. So workers really aren’t moving a whole lot these days these days. Not a lot to move for, of course, until we see a big increase in openings. We’re just going to see a stagnant job market, which has been the case for a while. And also keep in mind that this data is from November. And with the changes in the economy and what’s happening in AI, all of this is taking place so rapidly it almost feels like irrelevant news at this point. As we go into the new year, there is some positive momentum. ADP private employment showing that companies hired in October, I’m sorry, in December. That’s the latest data we have, so that’s a positive trend. Let’s hope it continues. And finally, for today, LinkedIn just published its Jobs on the Rise 2026 list. It’s based on the fastest growing roles over the past three years. And no surprise, AI is everywhere on this list with four of the top five positions. AI engineers came in at number one, that makes sense. They’re building the systems. Next are AI consultants and strategists.

4:01

Companies need people who can explain AI, implement it, and of course make it useful. Also in the top five are data annotators and AI machine learning researchers. But the list doesn’t just include technology roles. New home specialists came in at number three, and healthcare reimbursement specialists are number six and climbing fast based on what LinkedIn’s telling us. So that’s a reminder that healthcare growth isn’t just coming from doctors and nurses, it’s operations, billing, compliance roles. So lots of opportunity there for sure. And that is one area that just seems to have no end in sight. Rounding out the top ten are strategic advisors and independent consultants, advertising sales specialists, founders, and sales executives. None of this surprises me. Great salespeople are always incredibly difficult to find. So that demand there is also high. And given the nature of these jobs, I expect that to remain high and be among the last roles to be replaced by AI. Let’s face it, human relationships matter a lot, will always be important and necessary. So if you are somewhat inclined to be in sales, you don’t have a have a specific degree or professional background, I highly recommend pursuing that path if you’re unsure of what to do and that interests you in any way.

5:19

And at the same time, seeing founders on this list leads me to believe that AI is enabling people who would otherwise not be able to create a business. It’s just helping them be able to do that in ways that previously weren’t possible. So I’m not surprised to see founders there either. I think that’s going to continue to increase a lot in the months and years ahead. Also worth noting from this publication is LinkedIn says 56% of professionals planned a job hunt. Now that’s higher than all the other data that I see, but 76% don’t feel prepared. Well, speaking of AI one more time, use AI to help you get prepared. It’s all free, it’s all out there for you. So take advantage of it. If you want to see the full list, you can check it out on LinkedIn.com. Those are your headlines for today. But before we go, here’s your fun fact. As always, working overtime wasn’t a legal right in the US until the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed in 1938. Before that, extra hours didn’t necessarily mean extra pay. So if you have to work overtime and you don’t want to, well, at least you’re getting paid for it now. That’s a positive. But take it up with your employer, not with me. If you don’t want to work overtime, that’s a different issue altogether. So thank you for listening today. Please like, subscribe, share with anyone you think might be interested. And I look forward to talking to you tomorrow.