Best Upcoming Jobs (2026 - 2030)
By Tina Huang
Summary
Topics Covered
- Frontline Jobs Lead Growth
- Combine Jobs with Macro Trends
- Run Digital Lifestyle Business
- Degrees Fail Use Soft Commit
Full Transcript
In this video, we're going to identify the best upcoming jobs in 2026. But just
identifying them is not enough. I'm also
going to show you how to figure out what is the best job for you and also what you need to do to actually get there.
Cuz in 2026, unfortunately, the job markets are not so hot right now. So,
you can't just expect to get some sort of degree and then think that you would be able to get the job. Crazy, right?
And finally, there is a small subset of people with a very specific set of traits, which if you fall under this category, I think I may have the dream job for you. So, I'm going to put on screen now a quick little quiz you can put into the comments if you have more
than, let's say, half of these traits.
And I'll explain what that job is later in the video. But first, let's actually look at the research and objectively see what are the fastest and largest growing jobs in the next few years. A portion of this video is sponsored by Perplexity.
Here is the list of the largest growing jobs by 2030 according to the World Economic Forum. I also did cross-check
Economic Forum. I also did cross-check these with other sources like the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the International Labor Organization and they all more or less have similar vibes. At the very top, we have farm
vibes. At the very top, we have farm workers, laborers, and other agricultural workers followed by light truck or delivery service drivers, software and application developers, etc., etc., etc. As the WF states,
frontline jobs, which refers to roles that are involving direct hands-on interaction with customers, clients, and public, are predicted to see the largest growth in absolute terms of volume. This
includes farm workers, delivery drivers, construction workers, salespersons, and food processing workers. We also see an increased prediction of care economy jobs such as nursing professionals, social work, counseling professionals,
and personal care aids, as well as education roles such as tertiary and secondary education teachers. We also do see that coming up at number three is software and application developers on
the technology side. Now here is the fastest growing jobs by 2030. So these
may not have the objectively largest number of roles but they are the fastest growing jobs by percentage terms. And we can see that technology related roles dominate this list including big data specialists, fintech engineers, AI and
machine learning specialists and software and application developers and security management specialists. We also
see quite a few green and energy transition roles, including autonomous and electric vehicle specialists, environmental engineers, and renewable energy engineers. So, there you have it.
energy engineers. So, there you have it.
These are the predictions for the largest and fastest growing roles in 2030. Let me know in the comments if you
2030. Let me know in the comments if you have a job that's within these domains or you're looking to go into any of these jobs. Now, do we have any
these jobs. Now, do we have any overachievers watching this video?
>> That's me.
>> Cuz if so, this next section is for you.
Because if you can combine one of these roles with some of the macroeconomic trends that are going to be transforming businesses and driving the labor markets in the next few years, that's going to
be like boom like amazing even better.
You would be able to have access to the best opportunities available. So here is the graph of the macro trends driving business transformation for the next few years. The x-axis here is the share of
years. The x-axis here is the share of employees that are surveyed that identified the stated trend on the y-axis is likely to drive business transformation. So at the top we have
transformation. So at the top we have broadening digital access followed by rising cost of living, higher price of inflation, increased efforts and investments to reduce carbon emissions, increased focus on labor and social
issues etc etc. Grouping this together, there are five like macro macro trends.
Rapid technological change, notably AI.
Green transition referring to more focus on the environment. Geoeconomic
fragmentation. Countries are having policies that are more and more nationalistic. So less global
nationalistic. So less global cooperation, economic uncertainty, and demographic shifts such as aging. So
what I did is take these largest and fastest growing jobs and combine them together with the macro trends to ride that wave too. And then I wanted to actually make sure that, you know, these are going to be real jobs. So I cross referenced them with the ONET list of
jobs which is like the gold standard list of all jobs to get drum roll please some of the best of the best upcoming jobs that are the largest and the fastest growing and rides the wave of
macro trends in the next few years.
There is a saying that rising tides lifts all boats. So if you pick one of these jobs you would be one of those boats. Okay. So now we know what are the
boats. Okay. So now we know what are the best jobs like generally speaking. But
as the person who actually has to do the job, you also want to make sure that you're going to pick a job that is the most suitable for you, right? So, I
actually did a YouTube poll asking you guys what are the characteristics of your dream job cuz different people have different things that they're looking for. Some of your answers include a
for. Some of your answers include a well-paid remote job, no ceiling for growth, ability to mentor and be mentored, equity and bonus based performance, solid product, CPG, wart, positive work environment,
entrepreneurship, new problems keep coming up which I can solve, remote, flexible time benefits, remote, remote came up a lot, freelance plus types of work that I love, I don't need six figures, reasonable enough to enjoy my
life after paying bills is enough. So,
work life balance and flexibility, health insurance and ample travel. I
have a feeling this person is from the US. Anything to escape capitalism AI
US. Anything to escape capitalism AI related AI related and remote AI related and remote. So you if you have not written down what are the
characteristics of your dream job, please put it into the comments and use the prompt that I'm going to put on screen now and stick that into your favorite AI chatbot to figure out what
is actually the best job for you. might
need to converse with the AI a little bit, flush out your thoughts a little bit, but at the end of this exercise, you should have a nice narrow down list to start exploring custom just for you.
By the way, I'm kind of assuming that you're familiar with using AI at this point, but if you are not, check out this video over here where I summarize Google's 9-hour prompting course in just 20 minutes, and then you can do this exercise. Put into the comments what is
exercise. Put into the comments what is the list of jobs that is the most suitable for you so we can all see. By
the way, as a little tip, don't stress out so much about this entire exercise, okay? It's just to get you started.
okay? It's just to get you started.
Careers are long and jobs can adapt and change over time. The most successful people that I know are often also the most flexible people being able to adapt over time. So, this little exercise is
over time. So, this little exercise is just to get you started in the right direction. Also, don't feel like you
direction. Also, don't feel like you need to catch on to all of the macro trends and like the best of the best either. Just, you know, pick something
either. Just, you know, pick something that you know is going to be a rising tide and suitable for you. Also,
remember that little quiz at the very beginning where I said that I know what your dream job is. I shall tell you now.
>> Bring it. You are the type of person that is the most suitable to run what is called a digital lifestyle business.
Digital meaning that it's internet stuff where you build a thing and you make money through the internet. Because of
that, it's also remote if you choose it to be. And lifestyle business meaning
to be. And lifestyle business meaning that it's not a venture capitalbacked startup where you're like focused on hyperrowth and have investors to answer to. It's just used to support your
to. It's just used to support your lifestyle where you're optimizing for doing something that you really enjoy, work life balance, and only working with people that you like working with. This
is also the type of job that yours truly also has. I'll explain a little bit more
also has. I'll explain a little bit more about how to actually like go about achieving this type of job, but I want to say like what's cool about this type of job is that it's also really applicable to almost all domains as long as you address it from like an internet software perspective. So, I'm going to
software perspective. So, I'm going to put on screen now some of the digital lifestyle businesses that also take advantage of the rising tights. This is
not exhaustive, okay? Actually, none of these lists are exhaustive. I just want to like give you some examples. And
another thing that's really cool about doing a digital lifestyle business is that because of AI democratizing the ability to build software, your startup cost and barrier of entry to building stuff on the internet is so low right
now. Like you can start with just a few
now. Like you can start with just a few hundred and you don't even need to know how to code now if you know how to use vibe coding tools. Go into more detail about this in the next section. But I do also want to put some caveats because even though this category of job is
really cool and is absolutely my dream job, it's also not perfect. In fact,
it's like very much not perfect and can be really stressful sometimes, which is why I asked you guys to do that survey, right? Because it's actually not
right? Because it's actually not suitable for everybody. Some downsides
to a digital lifestyle business is that starting off, it's probably going to be really hard to actually see results. You
have to really persevere and put in effort into this without seeing linear results. Like it took me 4 years to get
results. Like it took me 4 years to get to a point in which I can say like, "Wow, like I'm actually running something that seems legit and we're doing good in terms of cash flow." It
also requires a lot of self-arning. Like
for me, I come from a STEM background. I
don't know anything about business. So,
I learned a lot of things about business, about accounting, about marketing, like so many different things. And you're not going to have
things. And you're not going to have work life balance for like probably a significant amount of time. I was
working like 80 hours per week when I was starting my digital lifestyle business while working a full-time job as well. So, yeah, if you still think
as well. So, yeah, if you still think that this is your dream job, put it into the comments. I actually really want to
the comments. I actually really want to know. The goal of AI, at least for me,
know. The goal of AI, at least for me, is to integrate it into my life in a way that actually supports how I think without introducing more noise. One
place that this has shown up is how I stay up to date with Tekken AI, which is literally my job. By using Comet, which is Perplexity's free browser, I could be reading an article like this one about the rise of open source models and
implications of democratizing AI, and ask the Comet assistant, give me the context behind this. And it would explain to me
behind this. And it would explain to me this article is situating the current boom in open source frontier models, Deep Seek, Llama, etc. with a bigger debate about who controls AI. Then I can
ask it, how does this fit into the context of the greater AI landscape?
And it says that it's one piece of a broader shift where AI is moving from a closed big tech dominated paradigm towards a mixed ecosystem of powerful proprietary and increasingly capable open models. Interesting. This is so
open models. Interesting. This is so much more effective when I'm learning instead of having to switch between a lot of different tabs or like doom scrolling X deluding myself that I'm actually learning. Something else that I
actually learning. Something else that I really care about, especially with AI, is control. With Common Assistant, you
is control. With Common Assistant, you can set clear boundaries like being able to block it from acting on certain sites, turning it off entirely and being able to see exactly what kind of data it's using and why. Ads and trackers are
blocked by default and passwords and sensitive information is stored locally on your own device. Comet only sends the minimum context in order to complete a task. So you're always in charge of what
task. So you're always in charge of what it sees and what it does. Comet is free to use right now if you want to try it out at this link also linked in description. Now back to the video. All
description. Now back to the video. All
right, before I end this video on the best upcoming jobs out there, I do also want to address how it is that you can actually reach these jobs. Cuz
unfortunately, as I've said previously, the labor market is not super hot right now.
>> Oh no, he's hot. So it's not like just cuz you want this job that you're just going to be able to get this job, right?
And often times just going to school and then getting like a specific degree even relevant to that job doesn't mean you're actually going to get a job. Perhaps
with the exception of the trades related jobs though. I am not an expert on this.
jobs though. I am not an expert on this.
So please do your research. But from
what I understand by doing some research, it does seem like going to trade school will generally land you like one of these jobs which we know are some of the best upcoming jobs. But for
those of you who are going more into the white collar jobs, going to school and getting degrees is not enough anymore.
Case in point, people who have a Harvard MBA still have an unemployment rate of 23%. Among young people, recent
23%. Among young people, recent graduates, the average unemployment rate is 12.6%. With few signs of improvement
is 12.6%. With few signs of improvement in the last few years. So that is why I recommend what I call the soft commit model. Like do not commit to an actual
model. Like do not commit to an actual degree unless you're like literally going to college right now and you got to choose a degree then. Yeah, that
makes sense. But everybody else, don't like just go do a master's degree or like, you know, just commit to that and just hope that you're going to end up with a job. Instead, I recommend that you do two things. First, first is to
make a self-study plan where you're able to learn the minimum amount for your related role with the help of AI. This
is very achievable for almost all white collar jobs. I also made a video about
collar jobs. I also made a video about how to make a study plan. So, you can check it out over here if if you want.
Next, you want to do some sort of volunteering or freelancing or internship related to that area. Again,
not going to say all because can't say all, but a lot of jobs these days will have some version of it in which you can get a taste for what it's going to be like and at least like interact with people in that role like technology
related jobs. I am very confident in
related jobs. I am very confident in that one because I happen to be in this space like almost all of them have that even like care related roles. There's
like volunteering roles that you can do in hospitals in different places. I also
know this by the way because I actually have a degree in pharmarmacology cuz I was like premed and I did a lot of volunteering um in hospitals. also did a lot of research in different labs and hospitals as well. Anyways, there are ways of doing this. Might need to be a
little bit more creative. I also did make a video on freelancing specifically, like how to get started freelancing. So, you can check it out
freelancing. So, you can check it out over here if you're interested. Now,
after you do these two steps, there is a possibility in which you could actually just get that role that you want to get.
Or if you feel like you've talked to the people who are in the role that you're in and you realize that the best path forward is to get a degree, then please do that. The point I'm trying to make
do that. The point I'm trying to make here is that I just don't want you to like commit to a degree first and then realize that it might not get you what you want, but you're smart. I'm sure you can make the judgment. Now, finally,
those of you who are interested in the digital lifestyle business route in addition to domain specific knowledge about what it is that you're going to start a business on, I'm going to put on screen now a brief study plan with certain topics that I think that you
should learn if you want to go down this path. And you're welcome on this one.
path. And you're welcome on this one.
Nobody gave me these. I wish somebody had given me this like 5 years ago when I started.
This list of topics has come from a lot of trial and error and a lot of tears.
So, you're welcome. I hope to see you on the other side. Now, with that, we have come to the end of this video. Thank you
so much for watching. Please do let me know in the comments if you haven't already, what is your dream job? And I
will see you guys in the next video or live stream.
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