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Projected job openings for occupations at the high school and bachelor’s degree levels

March 07, 2024

Whatever your education level or goal, there are lots of occupations to consider. The charts below focus on two education levels, high school diploma or the equivalent and bachelor’s degree. Each education level highlights selected occupations expected to have many annual average openings for new entrants from 2022 to 2032. Home health and personal care aides stands out among the occupations in these charts as having the largest number of projected openings, averaging well over half a million each year.

Most openings come from the need to replace workers who leave permanently, either to exit the labor force or to transfer to a different occupation. But others are from employment growth—that is, newly created jobs. Hover over a bar in the charts below to see an occupation’s wage, which you can compare with the $46,310 median annual wage for all occupations, as well as the work experience typically needed for entry and the training typically required to become competent.

Annual average openings, by source of opening, in selected occupations that require a high school diploma or equivalent, projected 2022–32
Occupation New jobs Occupational transfers Labor force exits Median annual wage, 2022 Work experience in a related occupation typically required for entry On-the-job training typically required to attain competency

Home health and personal care aides

80,500 247,700 329,400 30,180 None Short-term

Stockers and order fillers

17,900 287,900 182,900 34,220 None Short-term

Customer service representatives

0 227,500 162,200 37,780 None Short-term

Office clerks, general

0 151,700 155,900 38,040 None Short-term

Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive

0 100,600 111,300 41,000 None Short-term

First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers

6,000 119,900 63,000 37,050 Less than 5 years None

Maintenance and repair workers, general

5,700 74,700 72,100 44,980 None Moderate-term

Occupations that typically require a high school diploma or the equivalent for entry have the most projected openings of any education level: 7.1 million per year, on average, over the decade. And the occupations shown accounted for about one-third of those total openings.

The home health and personal care aides occupation is projected to have more openings due to new jobs compared with any other occupation in the economy, as these workers are increasingly needed to help care for an aging population. The highest-paying of the selected high-school level occupations was general maintenance and repair workers, with a median annual wage of $44,980. The lowest paying in the chart was home health and personal care aides, with a median annual wage of $30,180.

Annual average openings, by source of opening, in selected occupations that require a bachelor's degree, projected 2022–32
Occupation New jobs Occupational transfers Labor force exits Median annual wage, 2022 Typical work experience in a related occupation On-the-job training typically required to attain competency

General and operations managers

14,700 192,400 89,200 $98,100 5 years or more None

Registered nurses

17,700 67,100 108,300 81,220 None None

Software developers

41,000 64,400 30,900 127,260 None None

Accountants and auditors

6,700 71,200 48,500 78,000 None None

Elementary school teachers, except special education

1,000 47,000 48,000 61,690 None None

Market research analysts and marketing specialists

11,700 53,900 29,000 68,230 None None

Management analysts

9,600 47,700 35,600 95,290 Less than 5 years None

Occupations that typically require a bachelor’s degree are expected to have 3.3 million openings each year, on average, over the projections decade. Overall, employment in bachelor’s-level occupations is projected to grow faster than the average for all occupations. This growth reflects the relatively high numbers of openings due to new jobs.

Of the selected bachelor’s-level occupations, software developers are expected to have the largest number of openings from growth (41,000 each year, on average), and it had the highest median annual wage ($127,260). Elementary school teachers, except special education, had the lowest wage ($61,690) of the selected occupations.

To learn more, see "Education level and projected openings, 2022–32", Career Outlook, January 2024. The charts in this article highlight a fraction of the more than 800 occupations for which BLS makes employment projections. Search for occupations by education level, wages, and other variables using the “Select occupations by” feature of the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH).

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Projected job openings for occupations at the high school and bachelor’s degree levels at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2024/projected-job-openings-for-occupations-at-the-high-school-and-bachelors-degree-levels.htm (visited December 08, 2024).

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