With global cybersecurity labor shortages topping 2.44 million people in 2022 and AI tools showing up in developers’ workflows at least several times a week for 20% of coders in 2024, the job market is shifting fast toward data driven roles. At the same time, unemployment averaged 3.6% in 2023, so the competition for in demand skills is real rather than theoretical. Careers That Use statistics maps these pressures into concrete job growth, pay benchmarks, and the industries hiring at scale.
Key Takeaways
- 12.9 million job openings were available in the US economy in 2022, indicating strong hiring demand across many career fields
- In 2023, the US had 3.6% unemployment on average, affecting labor market competition for in-demand careers
- AI researchers and practitioners reported using generative AI for coding at 46% in 2024, reflecting demand for AI-enabled software careers
- 2.6 million people were employed as software developers in the US in 2023 (BLS OEWS), forming a baseline for tech-career growth planning
- 3.3% job growth is projected for software developers in the US from 2022 to 2032, adding about 316,300 new jobs
- Occupational employment of information security analysts is projected to grow by 32% from 2022 to 2032 (BLS), adding about 56,600 jobs
- 2022 median pay for data scientists in the US was $108,020 per year
- In 2022, US registered nurses median pay was $86,070 per year (BLS OOH)
- 2022 median pay for occupational therapists in the US was $86,850 per year
- The global cybersecurity market size was $188.3 billion in 2023 (MarketsandMarkets), supporting long-term growth for security careers
- The global cloud security market is forecast to reach $93.0 billion by 2030 (MarketsandMarkets), reinforcing demand for cloud security specialists
- The global data engineering tools market is forecast to reach $10.0 billion by 2030 (MarketsandMarkets), indicating expansion of data-engineering careers
- In 2024, 1 in 5 developers (20%) said AI tools contributed to their code generation at least several times per week (GitHub/Octoverse survey, 2024)
- 70% of organizations report using DevOps practices (2023), supporting careers in CI/CD, platform engineering, and release automation
- 58% of organizations reported using containers in production in 2023, supporting container platform engineering career demand
Software, data, and cybersecurity careers are surging in demand, pay, and growth, driven by AI, cloud, and skills gaps.
Related reading
01 · Category
Industry Trends8 stats
01
12.9 million job openings were available in the US economy in 2022, indicating strong hiring demand across many career fieldshttps://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.t01.htm
02
In 2023, the US had 3.6% unemployment on average, affecting labor market competition for in-demand careershttps://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t03.htm
03
AI researchers and practitioners reported using generative AI for coding at 46% in 2024, reflecting demand for AI-enabled software careershttps://venturebeat.com/ai/generative-ai-adoption-in-2024-where-its-working-and-where-its-still-failing/
04
For project management-related roles, the PMI Talent Gap report estimates 25 million additional project professionals are needed globally by 2030https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/talent-gap-2024-25-million-additional-project-professionals-need-2030-15279
05
The Association for Talent Development estimates US employer spending on training was $1,246per employee in 2023https://www.td.org/research-reports/atd-research-report/employer-spending-on-training
06
In 2023, 31% of job postings included sustainability-related terms (LinkedIn Economic Graph, 2023)https://www.linkedin.com/business/talent-solutions/blog/sustainability-jobs-2023
07
In 2023, the WEF Future of Jobs Report projects that 44% of workers' skills will need to be updated by 2027https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2023/
08
Ransomware accounted for 8.6% of breaches in 2023 (US), reinforcing growth for incident response and threat hunting roleshttps://www.hipaajournal.com/hipaa-june-2024-edition-breach-report/
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
In this Industry Trends snapshot, rapid labor demand is clear as 12.9 million US job openings in 2022 and 3.6% average unemployment in 2023 coincide with rising skills and role needs, including 46% of AI researchers using generative AI for coding in 2024 and 31% of 2023 job postings adding sustainability language.
02 · Category
Workforce Supply12 stats
01
2.6 million people were employed as software developers in the US in 2023 (BLS OEWS), forming a baseline for tech-career growth planninghttps://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes171151.htm
02
3.3% job growth is projected for software developers in the US from 2022 to 2032, adding about 316,300 new jobshttps://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm
03
Occupational employment of information security analysts is projected to grow by 32% from 2022 to 2032 (BLS), adding about 56,600 jobshttps://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/information-security-analysts.htm
04
The US nursing workforce registered nurses total employment was 3.5 million in May 2023 (BLS OEWS), a large baseline for nursing careershttps://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291141.htm
05
Nurse practitioners employment in the US was projected to grow by 40% from 2022 to 2032 (BLS), adding about 61,100 jobshttps://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/nurse-practitioners.htm
06
Employment of dental hygienists in the US is projected to grow by 11% from 2022 to 2032 (BLS), adding about 16,500 jobshttps://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/dental-hygienists.htm
07
In 2023, 3.1 million people in the US worked as operations research analysts and related occupations (BLS OEWS)https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes172051.htm
08
Operations research analysts are projected to grow by 23% from 2022 to 2032 in the US (BLS OOH), adding about 5,300 jobshttps://www.bls.gov/ooh/math/operations-research-analysts.htm
09
In 2023, US employment for accountants and auditors was 1.4 million (BLS OEWS)https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes131011.htm
10
Accountants and auditors in the US are projected to grow by 4% from 2022 to 2032 (BLS OOH), adding about 135,000 jobshttps://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/accountants-and-auditors.htm
11
In 2023, the US had 726,000 people employed as biomedical engineers (BLS OEWS), a baseline for biomedical engineering careershttps://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes191171.htm
12
Biomedical engineers in the US are projected to grow by 10% from 2022 to 2032 (BLS OOH), adding about 3,200 jobshttps://www.bls.gov/ooh/engineering/biomedical-engineers.htm
Interpretation
Workforce Supply Interpretation
Under the Workforce Supply category, the US is set to add substantial talent through 2032 as software developers are projected to grow 3.3% adding about 316,300 jobs alongside a 40% rise in nurse practitioner roles adding about 61,100 jobs.
03 · Category
Compensation9 stats
01
2022 median pay for data scientists in the US was $108,020per yearhttps://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/data-scientists.htm
02
In 2022, US registered nurses median pay was $86,070per year (BLS OOH)https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm
03
2022 median pay for occupational therapists in the US was $86,850per yearhttps://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/occupational-therapists.htm
04
2022 median pay for elementary school teachers in the US was $61,660per yearhttps://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/elementary-school-teachers.htm
05
In 2022, US management analysts median pay was $95,140per year (BLS OOH)https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/management-analysts.htm
06
In 2022, US logistics analysts median pay was $80,870per year (BLS OOH)https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/logisticians.htm
07
In 2022, US physical therapists median pay was $95,620per year (BLS OOH)https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physical-therapists.htm
08
In 2022, US therapists, all other median pay was $60,000per year (BLS OEWS/O*NET occupational group page)https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291199.htm
09
2022 median pay for court reporters in the US was $61,310per year (BLS OOH)https://www.bls.gov/ooh/production/court-reporters-and-realtime-captioners.htm
Interpretation
Compensation Interpretation
Across compensation focused careers, median pay spans from $60,000 for therapists, all other to $108,020 for data scientists, showing that compensation outcomes vary widely by occupation even within the same category.
More related reading
04 · Category
Market Size11 stats
01
The global cybersecurity market size was $188.3 billion in 2023 (MarketsandMarkets), supporting long-term growth for security careershttps://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/cybersecurity-market.asp
02
The global cloud security market is forecast to reach $93.0 billion by 2030 (MarketsandMarkets), reinforcing demand for cloud security specialistshttps://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/cloud-security-market-102810537.html
03
The global data engineering tools market is forecast to reach $10.0 billion by 2030 (MarketsandMarkets), indicating expansion of data-engineering careershttps://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/data-engineering-tools-market-109935121.html
04
The global digital health market is expected to reach $3.6 trillion by 2030 (Fortune Business Insights), driving roles in healthcare analytics and digital health operationshttps://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/digital-health-market-102613
05
The global RPA market size was $3.34 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $14.3 billion by 2026 (MarketsandMarkets), supporting careers in automation and process analyticshttps://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/robotic-process-automation-market-79641055.html
06
The global cybersecurity services market is projected to reach $176.2 billion by 2030 (Fortune Business Insights)https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/cybersecurity-services-market-105540
07
Worldwide IT spending is forecast to reach $5.1 trillion in 2024 (Gartner)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-02-06-gartner-says-worldwide-it-spending-is-forecast-to-grow-to-5-point-1-trillion-in-2024
08
The global medical devices market was valued at $522.3 billion in 2023 (Fortune Business Insights) supporting device engineering and regulatory careershttps://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/medical-devices-market-101089
09
The global electric vehicle battery market is expected to reach $184.5 billion by 2030 (Fortune Business Insights), boosting battery engineering and manufacturing careershttps://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/electric-vehicle-battery-market-105461
10
$307.3 billion in global public cloud services revenue is projected for 2028, indicating continued long-term investment in cloud-based careershttps://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US51360224
11
In 2024, the worldwide market for IT services is forecast to reach $1.6 trillion, supporting careers across consulting, systems integration, and managed serviceshttps://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-05-13-gartner-forecast-worldwide-it-services-spending-to-reach-1-6-trillion-in-2024
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
Across these career areas, market size signals strong long term momentum as cybersecurity grows to $188.3 billion in 2023 and cloud related spend climbs to $307.3 billion in public cloud services revenue by 2028, showing that major industries are continuing to fund roles in security and cloud.
05 · Category
Performance Metrics3 stats
01
In 2024, 1 in 5 developers (20%) said AI tools contributed to their code generation at least several times per week (GitHub/Octoverse survey, 2024)https://github.blog/news-insights/research/octoverse-2024/
02
70% of organizations report using DevOps practices (2023), supporting careers in CI/CD, platform engineering, and release automationhttps://www.thoughtworks.com/en-us/insights/blog/devops-statistics
03
58% of organizations reported using containers in production in 2023, supporting container platform engineering career demandhttps://www.thoughtworks.com/en-us/insights/blog/cloud-statistics
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Performance Metrics show that AI is already materially boosting developer output with 20% of developers using AI tools for code generation at least several times per week, while 70% of organizations use DevOps and 58% run containers in production, underscoring that high performance delivery depends on automation and scalable infrastructure.
06 · Category
Workforce Demand1 stats
01
Cybersecurity labor supply gap reached 2.44 million globally in 2022, supporting ongoing demand for training and staffing in security professionshttps://www.isc2.org/Research/ISC2-Cybersecurity-Workforce-Study
Interpretation
Workforce Demand Interpretation
In the Workforce Demand category, the cybersecurity labor supply gap of 2.44 million globally in 2022 signals that employers will keep needing more trained workers to meet security staffing requirements.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
David Sutherland. (2026, February 13). Careers That Use Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/careers-that-use-statistics
MLA
David Sutherland. "Careers That Use Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/careers-that-use-statistics.
Chicago
David Sutherland. 2026. "Careers That Use Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/careers-that-use-statistics.
Sources & references
44 datasets cited across this report
+30 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)