Healthcare sector to lead job market till 2030: WEF 2020

With the healthcare industry, 15 professions have been listed as the top job providers for the coming decade out of which at least seven are concerned with preventive healthcare.

The age old adage ‘health is wealth’ is going to realize in its literal sense in the coming decade. According to a report of the World Economic Forum (WEF), the healthcare industry or care economy will provide maximum jobs in the coming decade. Surprisingly, the preventive healthcare is likely to grow faster than the clinical health care which is presently considered the core area of the healthcare industry.

With the healthcare industry, 15 professions have been listed as the top job providers for the coming decade out of which at least seven – Physical Therapist Aides, Athletic Trainers, Exercise Physiologists, Recreation Workers, Fitness Trainers, Aerobics Instructors and Occupational Health are directly related to preventive healthcare and related activities. The remaining eight professions - Medical Transcriptionists, Radiation Therapists, Medical Equipment Preparers, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, Personal Care Aides, Respiratory Therapists, Medical Assistants, Safety Technicians, Orderlies, Healthcare Support Workers and others – are not much concerned with the core health sector of the contemporary healthcare industry.The WEF report 'Jobs of Tomorrow: Mapping Opportunity in the New Economy' has identified seven professional clusters and related skills which will dominate the job market by at least 2030.

These seven professional clusters collectively constitute 96 kinds of jobs. Besides, top 10 skills have also been identified which will be required for job hunting in those sectors. Besides healthcare or care economy, the other sectors of the future job market are – Data and Artificial Intelligence, Engineering and Cloud Computing, Green Economy or Green Energy, People and Culture, Product Development and Sales, Marketing and Content. It's pertinent to mention that the first six Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well Being, Quality Education, Gender Equality and Water and Sanitation - adopted by the United Nations for 2030 (SDG 2030) are somehow related with the healthcare. 

The rise of tourism sector and promotion to indigenous cultures seem to have provided an edge to the ‘people and culture’ in the future job market. As the tourism industry is considering one of the cleanest and non-polluting industries, the international funding agencies are preferring investment in the tourism sector. This was also highlighted in the recently concluded COP25 in Madrid. According to the report, in the next three years, the healthcare industry or care economy will provide about 37 percent of job opportunities followed by 17 percent in the sales, marketing and content. The data and AI sector will provide 16 percent of jobs followed by 2 percent in Engineering and Cloud Computing, and 8 percent in People and Culture.As the economies are growing there is an increased emphasis of better ‘Good Health and Well Being ‘of citizens throughout the world. Contrary to the developing economies, the preventive healthcare professionals such as Yoga professionals are in more demand in developed countries. It has also been observed that the with increased level of education and healthcare facilities people shift from clinical healthcare to preventive healthcare.