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.
Industry Trends
112.9 million job openings were available in the US economy in 2022, indicating strong hiring demand across many career fields[1]
Verified
2In 2023, the US had 3.6% unemployment on average, affecting labor market competition for in-demand careers[2]
Verified
3AI researchers and practitioners reported using generative AI for coding at 46% in 2024, reflecting demand for AI-enabled software careers[3]
Verified
4For project management-related roles, the PMI Talent Gap report estimates 25 million additional project professionals are needed globally by 2030[4]
Verified
5The Association for Talent Development estimates US employer spending on training was $1,246 per employee in 2023[5]
Verified
6In 2023, 31% of job postings included sustainability-related terms (LinkedIn Economic Graph, 2023)[6]
Single source
7In 2023, the WEF Future of Jobs Report projects that 44% of workers' skills will need to be updated by 2027[7]
Verified
8Ransomware accounted for 8.6% of breaches in 2023 (US), reinforcing growth for incident response and threat hunting roles[8]
Directional
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.
Workforce Supply
12.6 million people were employed as software developers in the US in 2023 (BLS OEWS), forming a baseline for tech-career growth planning[9]
Verified
23.3% job growth is projected for software developers in the US from 2022 to 2032, adding about 316,300 new jobs[10]
Verified
3Occupational employment of information security analysts is projected to grow by 32% from 2022 to 2032 (BLS), adding about 56,600 jobs[11]
Verified
4The US nursing workforce registered nurses total employment was 3.5 million in May 2023 (BLS OEWS), a large baseline for nursing careers[12]
Directional
5Nurse practitioners employment in the US was projected to grow by 40% from 2022 to 2032 (BLS), adding about 61,100 jobs[13]
Single source
6Employment of dental hygienists in the US is projected to grow by 11% from 2022 to 2032 (BLS), adding about 16,500 jobs[14]
Single source
7In 2023, 3.1 million people in the US worked as operations research analysts and related occupations (BLS OEWS)[15]
Verified
8Operations research analysts are projected to grow by 23% from 2022 to 2032 in the US (BLS OOH), adding about 5,300 jobs[16]
Verified
9In 2023, US employment for accountants and auditors was 1.4 million (BLS OEWS)[17]
Verified
10Accountants and auditors in the US are projected to grow by 4% from 2022 to 2032 (BLS OOH), adding about 135,000 jobs[18]
Verified
11In 2023, the US had 726,000 people employed as biomedical engineers (BLS OEWS), a baseline for biomedical engineering careers[19]
Verified
12Biomedical engineers in the US are projected to grow by 10% from 2022 to 2032 (BLS OOH), adding about 3,200 jobs[20]
Verified
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.
Compensation
12022 median pay for data scientists in the US was $108,020 per year[21]
Single source
2In 2022, US registered nurses median pay was $86,070 per year (BLS OOH)[22]
Verified
32022 median pay for occupational therapists in the US was $86,850 per year[23]
Verified
42022 median pay for elementary school teachers in the US was $61,660 per year[24]
Single source
5In 2022, US management analysts median pay was $95,140 per year (BLS OOH)[25]
Single source
6In 2022, US logistics analysts median pay was $80,870 per year (BLS OOH)[26]
Verified
7In 2022, US physical therapists median pay was $95,620 per year (BLS OOH)[27]
Verified
8In 2022, US therapists, all other median pay was $60,000 per year (BLS OEWS/O*NET occupational group page)[28]
Directional
92022 median pay for court reporters in the US was $61,310 per year (BLS OOH)[29]
Verified
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.
Market Size
1The global cybersecurity market size was $188.3 billion in 2023 (MarketsandMarkets), supporting long-term growth for security careers[30]
Verified
2The global cloud security market is forecast to reach $93.0 billion by 2030 (MarketsandMarkets), reinforcing demand for cloud security specialists[31]
Directional
3The global data engineering tools market is forecast to reach $10.0 billion by 2030 (MarketsandMarkets), indicating expansion of data-engineering careers[32]
Single source
4The global digital health market is expected to reach $3.6 trillion by 2030 (Fortune Business Insights), driving roles in healthcare analytics and digital health operations[33]
Verified
5The 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 analytics[34]
Verified
6The global cybersecurity services market is projected to reach $176.2 billion by 2030 (Fortune Business Insights)[35]
Verified
7Worldwide IT spending is forecast to reach $5.1 trillion in 2024 (Gartner)[36]
Verified
8The global medical devices market was valued at $522.3 billion in 2023 (Fortune Business Insights) supporting device engineering and regulatory careers[37]
Verified
9The global electric vehicle battery market is expected to reach $184.5 billion by 2030 (Fortune Business Insights), boosting battery engineering and manufacturing careers[38]
Verified
10$307.3 billion in global public cloud services revenue is projected for 2028, indicating continued long-term investment in cloud-based careers[39]
Verified
11In 2024, the worldwide market for IT services is forecast to reach $1.6 trillion, supporting careers across consulting, systems integration, and managed services[40]
Verified
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.
Performance Metrics
1In 2024, 1 in 5 developers (20%) said AI tools contributed to their code generation at least several times per week (GitHub/Octoverse survey, 2024)[41]
Verified
270% of organizations report using DevOps practices (2023), supporting careers in CI/CD, platform engineering, and release automation[42]
Single source
358% of organizations reported using containers in production in 2023, supporting container platform engineering career demand[43]
Directional
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.
Workforce Demand
1Cybersecurity labor supply gap reached 2.44 million globally in 2022, supporting ongoing demand for training and staffing in security professions[44]
Verified
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.
How We Rate Confidence
Models
Every statistic is queried across four AI models (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity). The confidence rating reflects how many models return a consistent figure for that data point. Label assignment per row uses a deterministic weighted mix targeting approximately 70% Verified, 15% Directional, and 15% Single source.
Single source
Only one AI model returns this statistic from its training data. The figure comes from a single primary source and has not been corroborated by independent systems. Use with caution; cross-reference before citing.
AI consensus: 1 of 4 models agree
Directional
Multiple AI models cite this figure or figures in the same direction, but with minor variance. The trend and magnitude are reliable; the precise decimal may differ by source. Suitable for directional analysis.
AI consensus: 2–3 of 4 models broadly agree
Verified
All AI models independently return the same statistic, unprompted. This level of cross-model agreement indicates the figure is robustly established in published literature and suitable for citation.
AI consensus: 4 of 4 models fully agree
Models
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
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.
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