The 5 Fastest Growing STEM Fields and the 18 Most In-Demand Jobs
July 7, 2022
The COVID pandemic emphasized how crucial science is for health and innovation, and the importance of a vast number of experienced professionals throughout the science, technology, engineering, mathematics, technology (STEM) fields. From the pandemic alone, we saw the importance of all fields and functions of STEM come together to understand and manage the virus, create a vaccine and disseminate care throughout the world. Biomedical researchers in labs worldwide studied how COVID impacts the body and the mechanisms by which it was spreading, chemists, biotech and pharmaceutical scientists dove into R&D for vaccines and tech developers utilized digital technology to track cases and facilitate contract tracing. Additionally, data scientists tracked populations, public health experts coordinated international vaccination development and leveraged community health workers to distribute the vaccine.
With this in mind, it is no surprise that employment in STEM industries fared well during the pandemic and continues to grow significantly. STEM jobs have historically been less affected by recessions and unemployment – in 2020 the unemployment rate for STEM professions was 4% lower than the overall rate. When the US unemployment rate was at its highest in 2020, hovering around 8%, the unemployment rate for STEM professions was between 3.4%-4.3% depending upon the industry. The demand for scientific and technical professionals continues to rise – the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that STEM jobs will increase by over 10% by 2030, while non-STEM occupations will increase by just 7.5%.
Read on to learn which fields and jobs are fastest growing and most in demand:
Information Technology
The information technology (IT), computer science and computer engineering industry is expected to grow significantly in the next decade. Computer occupations as a whole are expected to grow by 13.4%, housing several of the industry’s top jobs, adding an increase of 441,500 jobs annually by 2030. The only IT field that is not expected to grow in the next ten years is computer programming, which has a projected –9.9% labor force loss by 2030.
| Job | Percent Employment Change, 2020-2030 | Occupational Openings, Annual Average, 2020-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Information Security Analyst | 33.3% | 16,300 |
| Computer and Information Research Scientists | 21.9% | 3,200 |
| Software and Web Developers | 18.7% | 216,000 |
| Computer and Information Analysts | 12% | 63,900 |
| Computer User Support Specialists | 8.9% | 54,800 |
Looking for a career change within the IT industry? Check out current openings in this high demand field, on STEMHUNTER.
Mathematics
The mathematics industry is projected to grow by over a quarter of its current size in the coming decade, bringing 28% more jobs to the industry by 2030. Statistics is the fastest growing STEM field – expanding by 35.4% before the end of the decade.
Math itself is only expected to grow marginally, at 2.7%, but that’s not the case for other math fields:
| Job | Percent Employment Change, 2020-2030 | Occupational Openings, Annual Average, 2020-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Statistician | 35.4% | 5,000 |
| Data Scientists | 31.4% | 7,100 |
| Actuaries | 24.5% | 2,400 |
Ready to take advantage of the rapidly expanding math field? Look at the statistics, data science, and actuary openings on STEMHUNTER!
Engineering
One of the highest demand STEM fields, engineering, is not expected to grow at the same rate as its STEM counterparts in the coming decade, with only a 7.4% increase by 2030. Most engineering fields are projected to see just single-digit growth in the next ten years, and a couple are expected to shrink (nuclear engineering has –8.4% expected growth and –1.9% for drafting engineers). Here are the exceptions:
| Job | Percent Employment Change, 2020-2030 | Occupational Openings, Annual Average, 2020-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Industrial Engineers | 13.7% | 23,300 |
| Chemical Engineers | 9.3% | 1,800 |
| Civil Engineers | 8.2% | 25,000 |
Despite this small percentage expansion, given the scale of engineering this amounts to 125,400 new jobs annually, so there is no shortage of opportunities to enter the field or grow professionally.
Are you an engineer seeking a career upgrade? Check out our top job openings on STEMHUNTER.
Life & Physical Science
Among life and physical science fields, life sciences is expected to grow at a higher pace, with a 10.7% growth rate (33,600 additional jobs annually) expected compared to a 4.4% growth (11,200 new jobs) in biological sciences. Here are the industries’ high demand jobs:
| Job | Percent Employment Change, 2020-2030 | Occupational Openings, Annual Average, 2020-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Soil & Plant Scientists | 10% | 2,300 |
| Foresters | 10% | 1,400 |
| Psychology: Clinical, Counseling & School Psychologist | 10.4% | 25,000 |
| Environmental Science & Protection Technician | 10.6% | 4,700 |
| Physicists | 8.8% | 1,300 |
Are you a medical scientist ready to jumpstart your career? Create an account on STEMHUNTER today to be notified when positions are posted in this field!
With very few exceptions, all STEM fields are expanding, making this decade an ideal time to enter the field or pursue new career opportunities. There are more scientific and technical professional opportunities now than there were a decade ago and that will likely continue to increase. And, unlike other fields that are vulnerable to economic or geopolitical challenges, STEM fields have proven to be recession and global pandemic-proof.
Ready to grow in STEM? Check out the industry’s most in-demand jobs on STEMHUNTER, a job board specializing in scientific and technical jobs.
All industry data cited in the article is from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
