Average US job skills evolve with more than a third of top 20 changing since 2016

May 23, 2022

More than one-third of the top 20 skills requested in postings for the average US job have changed since 2016, and one in five skills is an entirely new requirement for that job, according to a report from the Boston Consulting Group, Emsi Burning Glass, and The Burning Glass Institute. The report is a comprehensive look at job listings from 2016 through 2021.

In reviewing the five-year data through a Skill Disruption Index, the study detected an acceleration in the pace of change as nearly three-quarters of jobs changed more from 2019 through 2021 than they did from 2016 through 2018.

“Company leaders — even HR and recruiting leaders — may not even realize how profoundly and rapidly the jobs in their industry are evolving since not every job is disrupted to the same degree, at the same rate or in the same way,” said Jens Baier, a managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group. “The challenge for employers and employees alike is to keep up — or, better yet, to get ahead of the trends.”

According to the report, several sectors have changed more than others such as finance; design, media and writing; business management and operations; HR; and IT. Roles seeing the most change include accounting supervisors, advertising managers, marketing associates, software developers and solar engineers. In these jobs, 80% of the top 20 skills are either new or have changed significantly in importance.

In contrast, skills requirements in other jobs, including physical occupations — such as warehouse workers, packagers, janitors, tractor trailer truck drivers, and shipping and receiving clerks — have changed 15% or less.

“This report provides hard evidence of an important trend: The average worker is going to have to learn new skills just to keep the job they have, much less get ahead in their careers,” said Bledi Taska, chief economist and executive VP at Emsi Burning Glass. “The pandemic has accelerated the process, but even when not in a crisis, we are undergoing a major shift in how the world thinks about the nature of work.”

The report draws on data from more than 15 million online job postings from 2016 through 2021.