15 careers in high demand during the coronavirus pandemic
The most recent assessment of coronavirus’s impact on the global economy paints a grim picture.
The UN International Labour Organization (ILO) expects cutbacks equivalent to nearly 200 million full-time workers within the next three months alone – far worse than the 2008-9 financial crisis.
Full or partial lockdown measures are affecting almost 2.7 billion workers – that’s four in five of the world’s workforce. While unemployment is spiking, not all sectors of the economy are hurting.
FlexJobs, an online platform for finding remote work, noticed that certain industries were posting an increased number of jobs throughout March 2020.
An analysis of its entire database of jobs – including freelance, remote, in-office and part-time positions – revealed the 15 most in-demand categories in the last month:
- Therapy: 84% increase
- Mortgage and real estate: 55% increase
- Banking: 52% increase
- Bookkeeping: 47% increase
- Nursing: 40% increase
- Auditing: 37% increase
- Insurance claims: 33% increase
- Medical case management: 32% increase
- System administration: 23% increase
- Translation: 23% increase
- Kindergarten – Grade 12 education: 22% increase
- Database administration: 22% increase
- Inbound calls: 18% increase
- Online teaching: 17% increase
- Pharmaceutical: 13% increase
It’s normal to feel distressed and concerned about the coronavirus pandemic and, as it continues, more and more therapists will be needed to treat mental and physical health conditions and ailments.
Coronavirus is wreaking havoc on the global property market, with housing prices set to nose dive in the months ahead. Real estate and mortgage careers involve the transfer of properties (residential and commercial) between parties, often managing financial, legal, and insurance aspects of this process.
While many of us have switched to 100% digital banking in line with social distancing restrictions, the number of banking jobs is on the rise. These are spread across the accounting, finance, and bank industries, as well as mortgage lending, insurance, credit cards, not-for-profit organisations, and information technology.
Bookkeepers are employed to process and record transactions involving sales, purchases, payroll, collection of accounts receivable, payment of bills, and more.
Coronavirus has placed huge demand on hospitals, and the need for nurses will only continue to climb as the world’s healthcare and medical needs are compromised.
Typically found in accounting and finance departments, auditors evaluate everything from contracts and bank records to processes and projects.
Insurance companies are faced with huge demand during the current crisis. Responsible for accepting, processing and making decisions on insurance claims, people with claims jobs support a range of needs including property and auto insurance, casualty insurance, healthcare and dental insurance, and life insurance, to name a few.
Whether in the medical or mental health industries, case management encompasses the entirety of patient cases, including tasks such as initial assessment, addressing mental and medical needs, coordinating services for patients, acting as an advocate, collaborating with different service providers, and more.
System Administrators are responsible for the maintenance and troubleshooting of networked and cloud-based systems used by companies large and small.
As business is becoming more global, the need for translators who can bridge the communication gap between cultures and businesses is rising.
The coronavirus pandemic has affected educational systems worldwide, changing how millions of school students learn. Nevertheless, there is still demand for K–12 teachers to support students through this time.
Jobs in this category cover career fields including database management, warehousing, architecture and administration.
Inbound calling staff listen to callers, evaluate their needs and offer solutions or answers to their questions.
The current crisis is triggering a boom in online learning with the majority of people forced to stay in their homes. Online teaching professionals are now in high demand to provide learning opportunities over the internet to students of all ages.
Pharmaceutical jobs are plentiful as the medical and healthcare industries continue to demand professionals who understand medicine and drug formulations to help patients overcome diseases and ailments.