Which jobs will be highest in demand over the next 10 years?

It's always important to plan ahead, especially when it comes to your career - you don't want to invest time and money in a profession that will be redundant in five years' time! You want to be ahead of the curve - which means you need to choose a profession that will remain in high demand, to make sure that the next 10 years will be your most lucrative.

Using information gathered from a number of sources (ranging from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics to the South African Department of Trade and Industry), Oxbridge Academy has put together a list of some of the professions that will be highest in demand over the next 10 years:

Registered nurses

While the healthcare sector is rapidly expanding across the world, it is also projected that there will be a much larger elderly population that will need to be taken care of in the next 10 to 30 years. One US study published in Health Services Research states that there will be twice as many elderly people in 2030 as there were in 2002. The World Health Organisation also reported that in the next 35 years, the proportion of South Africa's population aged over 60 will have doubled.

This means that registered nurses, caregivers, and private home nurses will be in high demand. Using growth projections and current median earnings, Business Insider also predicted that registered nurses will be the number 1 most in-demand professionals by 2024.

Motor manufacturing technicians

In 2014, the South African automotive industry already accounted for 12.7% of South African exports for the year, with the Automotive Production and Development Programme set to increase vehicle production in South Africa by 50% between 2013 and 2020. With this projected growth comes an increased pressure on the job market to supply skilled professionals.

But it is not only national development that will contribute to a demand for technicians in this sector. In 2008, Ford invested R1.5 billion in South Africa, with an economic impact study conducted by KPMG indicating that this investment could create 690 000 new employment opportunities by 2025. And this is not even the biggest investment, with BMW having invested R6 billion in South Africa's auto-manufacturing industry in 2015, promising profound growth in this sector over the next 10 to 20 years.

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Wind turbine service technicians

The growing worldwide concern over global warming and the depletion of fossil fuels has already sparked a tremendous economic interest in alternative and renewable energy. It is thus no surprise that the US Bureau of Labour Statistics projects a growth of 108% in the demand for wind turbine service technicians between 2014 and 2024.

In South Africa, the future demand for professionals of this kind is possibly double-fold. Currently, South Africa's annual wind-generated energy production is low, but a recent study by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research found that the potential for electricity production by wind turbines in South Africa is much greater than initially thought. According to the study, more than 80% of South Africa's landmasshas enough wind resources to accommodate economic wind farms. South Africa consequently has the potential to accommodate a wind fleet large enough to supply the entire world's electricity demand!

"Wind energy is certainly here," says Johan van den Berg, CEO of the South African Wind Energy Association, "and there is plenty more in development and ready and waiting to be given the go-ahead."

Tourism and hospitality professionals

South Africa's tourism industry promises to keep on booming, with the government having launched a R2 billion budget plan for SA tourism earlier in 2016. Tourism is also one of the six key sectors that the South African Economic Growth Path focuses on, with the aim of creating 5 million new jobs by 2020.

Internationally, too, tourism has been outpacing global economic growth for the past six years, with an estimate that it will continue to grow by 4% on average annually, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council. According to their data, 37 of the 46 countries they surveyed are consequently forecast to have a deficit in talent supply in the tourism and travel industry by 2024.

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General and operations managers

According to Manpower South Africa's 10th Annual Talent Shortage Survey, management and executive staff rank third in positions that South African businesses have trouble filling. The Department of Higher Education and Training also lists 'Managers' as one of 2015's highest in demand occupations. This is a trend that will most likely continue in the next 10 years.

This is also a global trend that will most likely persist, as Business Insider also lists 'general and operational managers' as their second most in-demand professional fieldfor 2024. This is largely due to the fact that managers can find work across all industries and sectors.

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Computer programmers

The May 2016 Career Junction Index, an analysis of online job market trends, shows that Information Communication and Technology (ICT) is the top employment sector in South Africa at the moment. This has been the case for a number of years now, and with the continued growth of the ICT sector locally and abroad, this is a trend that will most likely remain for the coming years.

But with the next wave of technology promising a new digital revolution, there are certain new specialisations in ICT that will be particularly high in demand in the near future:

AI and robotics specialists

According to a Pew Research Center report, robotics and artificial intelligence "will permeate wide segments of daily life by 2025, with huge implications for a range of industries such as healthcare, transportation and logistics".

While this advancement in technology will invariably make certain jobs redundant (as automation takes over), it will also create new jobs and industries, according to the Pew Research Center report. Computer programmers and engineers will be needed in the fields of robotics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and neural networking, to build and integrate these new technologies.

Flexible app developers

App developers are currently some of the most sought after professionals in ICT. But app development is an industry that is increasingly leaving the confines of mobile devices and infiltrating every other aspect of our lives-from our home to our car to our daily finances.

With a future where apps integrate with different platforms throughout our lives, flexible app developers are going to be in even higher demand, according to Mary K Pratt of Computer World.

Cloud computing specialists

According to a study done by CompTIA in 2014, 90% of US companies use some form of cloud computing in their daily operations. With digital technology increasingly migrating to 'the cloud', and more and more companies shifting their data infrastructures to private and public cloud servers, specialists in cloud computing will be in increasing demand.

IT leaders report that the growth of cloud-based services will generate a myriad of cloud-related jobs in the future, such as cloud computing programmers, capacity managers, and security managers. Cloud security will be a field of special importance, as data shifting between private and public cloud servers poses a unique security risk for corporations.

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Making the most out of future predictions

Despite expert opinions or data driven predictions, no one really knows what the future holds - especially in a somewhat volatile global economy.

But you don't have to take a risk when it comes to planning a career shift. If you study part-time via distance learning, you can get the skills and qualifications you need to plan a successful career over the next 10 years -without compromising your current career or missing a day of work.

To find out more about laying a foundation for a future as a highly sought after professional, you can visit distance learning college Oxbridge Academy's Web site atwww.oxbridgeacademy.co.za

Sources:

http://traveller24.news24.com/News/sa-tourism-industry-set-for-r2bn-budget-boost-20160504 http://www.economic.gov.za/communications/publications/new-growth-path-series http://tourismexposed.com/2014/04/15/tourism-trends/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1464018/ http://www.computerworld.com/article/2885892/future-proof-your-it-career-8-tech-areas-that-will-still-be-hot-in-2020.html#slide2 http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/08/06/future-of-jobs/ http://www.businesspartners.co.za/knowledge-hub/manufacturing-fund/posts/south-africas-automotive-industry-glance-3247/ http://thenerveafrica.com/6469/south-africas-vehicle-production-may-climb-almost-50-2020/ http://www.fin24.com/Finweek/Business-and-economy/bmw-invests-a-whopping-r6bn-in-sa-20151116 http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/industrials/2016/04/06/ford-set-to-invest-more-in-local-unit http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/South-Africas-elderly-population-to-double-by-2050-WHO-20150930 http://www.businessinsider.com/the-21-best-jobs-of-the-future-2015-12 http://www.bls.gov/ooh/fastest-growing.htm http://www.wttc.org/-/media/382bb1e90c374262bc951226a6618201.ashx http://sawea.org.za/index.php/media-room/press-releases/113-sa-to-have-400-wind-turbines-spinning-by-year-end http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=153026 Government Notices. Higher Education and Training, Department.