The US is expected to add 8.3 million jobs from 2018 to 2023, but only one-fourth of these jobs will fall within the middle-wage category, according to a CareerBuilder study released today. Factored into the total job growth is an expected loss of 369,879 jobs over the same time period, with middle wage occupations experiencing the majority of the decline. 

The research’s key findings include:

• High-wage and low-wage occupations are expected to have the highest net job growth from 2018 to 2023 at 5.71% and 5.69%, respectively. Middle-wage employment will grow at 3.83%.
• High-wage and low-wage occupations each will add 1 million more jobs than middle-wage occupations from 2018 to 2023. High-wage occupations are expected to add 3,117,284 jobs and low-wage occupations are expected to add 3,098,476 jobs, compared to 2,094,243 new jobs for middle-wage occupations.
• A total of 121 occupations will experience a decline in jobs between 2018 and 2023, and 75 of those occupations are middle-wage. Across the 121 total occupations, 369,879 jobs will be lost with middle-wage occupations accounting for 58% of the loss.
• STEM-related occupations — science, technology, engineering and math — will continue to dominate fast-growing occupations.

“Technology innovation is moving at an unprecedented rate and is rapidly redefining the occupations and skills required in the job market,” said CareerBuilder CEO Irina Novoselsky. “Most of the fastest-growing occupations have a technical component to them. Employers will need to play a greater role in providing competency-based training to the workforce. At the same time, workers across all job levels will need to continually pursue opportunities to upskill in order to maneuver around accelerated shifts in labor demand. This is a particularly pressing issue for middle-wage workers who are at greater risk for becoming displaced and workers in general who want to move up into better-paying jobs.”

The study defined low-wage jobs as those that pay $14.17 or less per hour; middle-wage jobs as $14.18 to $23.59 per hour; and high-wage jobs as $23.60 per hour. The analysis is based on data from Emsi and focuses on 774 occupations that are classified by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. It includes data for workers who are employed with organizations and those who are self-employed.