The fastest-growing occupations over the next decade will include home health aides, personal care aides and occupational therapy assistants, according to a report released Sept. 4 by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Although solar installers and wind turbine techs topped the list, six of the top-10 occupations were healthcare-related roles.
Here’s the BLS’ list of the 10 fastest-growing occupations for 2018 to 2028:
| Occupation | % change 2018-2028 | Median wages (May 2018) |
| Solar photovoltaic insallers | 63.3% | $42,680 |
| Wind turbine service techs | 56.9% | $54,370 |
| Home health aides | 36.6% | $24,200 |
| Personal care aides | 36.4% | $24,020 |
| Occupational therapy assistants | 33.1% | $60,220 |
| Information security analysts | 31.6% | $98,350 |
| Physician assistants | 31.1% | $108,610 |
| Statisticians | 30.7% | $87,780 |
| Nurse practitioners | 28.2% | $107,030 |
| Speech-language pathologists | 27.3% | $77,510 |
On the flip side, office and administrative support occupations are expected to decline by 2.6% through 2028.
Overall, the BLS projects employment to grow by 8.4 million jobs to 169.4 million over the next decade. However, the annual growth rate of 0.5% between 2018 and 2028 is slower than the annual growth rate of 0.8% between 2008 and 2018.
Workers aged 65 years and older are expected to increasingly stay in the workforce with the labor participation rate for these workers increasing to 23.3% by 2028.
