New study reveals the world’s most searched-for jobs

In 2019, Brother UK, the office electronics supplier, analysed a year’s worth of Google search data. The study revealed the most popular jobs worldwide, and they discussed whether culture and economy impacted careers globally.

In 2023, Brother UK conducted a new study investigating how the global job market has changed in the last three years. Brother UK wanted to determine whether a pandemic, economic uncertainties, remote/hybrid working, and AI technologies have transformed how the world searches for jobs.

The most searched-for jobs in the UK

Teaching assistant jobs are still the most searched-for in the UK. However, there are signs that interest may be waning. In 2019, over 288,000 people searched Google for teaching assistant roles. But since 2020, the average yearly searches have shrunk by 5% to 275,000.

UK search data shows that the most significant search increase in the education sector was from qualified teaching positions. While teachers still wish to continue teaching, they may consider switching schools for better career prospects.

A recent poll from the National Education Union showed that teachers were more likely to look for a promotion at another school rather than at the school where they were currently employed.

In 2019, the second and third most searched-for jobs in the UK were estate agents, with 105,700 searches and project managers, with 99,300 searches. While searches for both jobs increased, they were knocked out of the top five by a surge of interest in teaching and cabin crew jobs.

The aviation industry experienced heavy turbulence at the start of the pandemic due to fewer flights. As international travel restrictions were gradually lifted, airlines that managed to weather the storm have needed to rehire talent back into the workforce.

Photography jobs saw one of the most significant declines in UK searches. Searches for photography roles fell by 17% and failed to make the 10 most searched-for jobs in 2023. Stock image photographers are also facing steep competition from AI, which can produce photorealistic artwork cheaply.

The most searched-for jobs in the UK:

1 Teaching assistant 
2 Cleaner 
3 Teacher 
4 Cabin crew 
5 Project manager 
6 Human resources 
7 Estate agent 
8 Receptionist 
9 Graphic designer 
10 Accountant 

*Avg. yearly searches for listed jobs

The most searched-for jobs in Europe

Across the continent, human resources careers emerged as the most searched-for. However, our study revealed that there were regional variations depending on the job market in each country.

Germany saw the highest search volumes for firefighter jobs. Data from the Economic Research Institute indicates that firefighters in Germany can expect to earn around €45,931 per year. While this is slightly below Germany’s national average salary, the outlook for firefighters is positive. Over the past five years, firefighter salaries have increased by 18%, with predictions their wages will continue to grow in the coming years.

Teaching assistants emerged as the second most searched job in Europe, with most searches coming from the UK. European countries outside the UK, specifically Ireland and Germany, also saw significant growth in teaching assistant roles.

The most searched-for jobs in Europe:

1 United Kingdom Teaching Assistant 
2 Germany Firefighter 
3 Spain Airline pilot 
4 France Animator 
5 Switzerland Admin 
6 Austria Courier 
7 Belgium Nurse aide 
8 Portugal Airline pilot 
9 Cyprus Cabin crew 
10 Malta Airline pilot 

*Avg. yearly searches for listed jobs

The world’s most searched-for jobs, overall

Interest in human resources was not limited to European countries. Global job search data revealed that HR jobs were the most sought-after globally. The US led the way, with the highest volume of HR job searches in the last three years, followed by the UK and India.

There was a substantial increase in the number of job searches. Accounting jobs were identified as the second most searched in the world, seeing average yearly search volumes double, reflecting a considerable increase in demand. This is beaten by the rise in demand for graphic design roles, which tripled.

Job searches around the world:

1 Human resources 
2 Accountant 
3 Graphic designer 
4 Mechanical engineer 
5 Civil engineer 
6 Data analyst 
7 Cleaner 
8 Receptionist 
9 Teacher 
10 Journalist 

*Avg. yearly searches for listed jobs

The search for science and technology jobs

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) jobs have been in high demand, crucial for driving innovation and advancing society. In our previous study, mechanical engineering stood out as the most sought-after job within STEM and the most searched job globally.

Mechanical engineering continues to be a highly sought-after career path, with a 77% increase in average yearly searches for engineering jobs. Unsurprisingly, mechanical engineering remained the most searched-for STEM job globally, with many searches coming from South Africa, which saw an average yearly search volume of 123,730.

A standout data trend was the growing searches for careers in data analytics. Global job searches for data analytics hit a yearly average of 780,677, making the top 10 which it had failed to reach previously. The US, UK and Canada job markets were most interested in data analytics careers.

Science & Technology job searches:

1 India Civil engineer 
2 USA Data analyst 
3 UK Data analyst 
4 South Africa Mechanical engineer 
5 Canada Data analyst 


*Avg. yearly searches for listed jobs

The most caring countries

In 2019, Australia was found to be the most caring country, with Australians searching for more jobs in social care than other professions. Since 2020, little has changed. Our friends Down Under might be even more caring, with average yearly searches for social care jobs increasing by 48%.

Our job search data suggests that Mexico is among the most caring countries, with nursing being the most-searched job in Mexico.

It’s not surprising that nursing is a popular job search in Mexico. In addition to helping others, Mexican nurses receive better pay and job security than other jobs in the country. According to data from the Mexican Competitions Institute, nursing is the seventh most sought-after job in the country. Nurses can expect to be paid 34% more than the median national income.

Social care sector job searches:

1 Spain Nurse aide 
2 Australia Social worker 
3 Colombia Nurse aide 
4 Mexico Nurse 
5 France Caregiver 
6 Ireland Social worker 

*Avg. yearly searches for listed jobs

Finance-focused countries

In the last three years, several countries have been making money moves. In 2019, the top country for accounting roles was the US, and this remains unchanged. In fact, there has been a 3.2% increase in yearly searches for accounting jobs in the US.

In 2019, Canada followed closely behind their North American neighbours, ranking second as the country with the most job searches in finance. Like the USA, the average yearly searches for accountant jobs in Canada have increased by 23% in the last three years. Despite this, Canada was outpaced by noticeable increases in India and the UK.

The professional services focus on finance jobs has extended beyond India and the UK. Previously, Singapore, the UAE and Kenya also appeared in the top 10 for job searches in accountancy. Like Canada, all three countries saw search volumes for accountant jobs increase by 38%. However, they were outpaced by Germany and South Africa.

Finance sector job searches:

1 UK 
2 India 
3 USA 
4 Canada 
5 South Africa 
6 Germany 
*Avg. yearly searches for accountant/accounting jobsYou can find more information about the research here: https://www.brother.co.uk/business-solutions/worlds-most-searched-for-jobs New study reveals the world’s most searched-for jobs
Read More........ → Categories: , , ,
→

Private sector funding key to climate transition, World Bank chief says

WASHINGTON - The World Bank is working to slash how long it takes to get financing projects off the ground as part of a push to speed up and scale up the 79-year-old development lender, its president told AFP on Wednesday.

It currently takes 27 months, on average, before "the first dollar goes out the door," Ajay Banga said in an interview in his brightly lit office in the Bank's headquarters close to the White House.

"If I can bring it down by one third over the first couple of years, that would be pretty good," he said. "The Bank needs to change and evolve."

Banga, an Indian-born, naturalized US citizen who previously ran the payments company Mastercard, took over the management of the bank in June on a pledge to boost its lending firepower by encouraging greater private investment in the fight against climate change.

In the seven months since, the 64-year-old has made some big changes, altering the development lender's mission statement to include a reference to climate change, and setting up a private sector advisory body to recommend solutions to address the "barriers to private sector investment in emerging markets."

He's also explored new ways to "sweat" the bank's existing balance sheet in order to boost lending capacity without additional funding from donor countries.

On Wednesday, Banga repeated a previous pledge to "fix the plumbing" of World Bank, and said he plans to "create the credibility" needed for the developed world to increase its capital investment in it.

"For that you have to become a better bank. You have to be quicker, faster, more focused on impact, less focused on input," he said. "Then you can say with credibility, 'I'm now ready to absorb more capital.'"

- Climate or development? -

As part of a push to increase its climate financing, the World Bank Group recently raised its target for climate-related projects from 35 percent of its annual financing to 45 percent.

"I think people in the global south recognize very well that you cannot fight poverty without fighting climate change," Banga said. "The only difference is, what do you mean by climate change?"

Whereas the developed world tends to discuss climate change in terms of mitigating carbon emissions, "the developing world tends to speak about climate change as adaptation," he said.

"They see the climate change impact on them in terms of irrigation, rainfall, soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, forestry cover, that kind of thing," he added.

To meet both of these challenges, the World Bank has decided that half of the 45 percent committed to climate financing in the next financial year will go to adaptation, and the other half to mitigation.

"You have to find these compromises, to enable the donors and the receivers to feel that the bank is navigating in the right way," Banga said.

- Growing the pie -

However, even if the Bank succeeds in raising additional capital from its members and squeezing additional dollars from its balance sheet, it is still unlikely to meet the scale of the challenge posed by climate change alone, Banga said.

The World Bank recently estimated that developing countries will need an average of $2.4 trillion each year between now and 2030 in order to address the "global challenges of climate change, conflict, and pandemics."

Given that the Bank's lending commitments in the most recent financial year were less than $130 billion, the only way to get close to this target is by encouraging far greater private sector participation, according to Banga.

To encourage the scale of private financing needed, Banga said he was working to resolve three outstanding issues.

The first is regulatory certainty, so investors have a "line of sight" to a country's longer-term policy priorities.

The second, more complex, challenge is foreign currency risk.

In many cases, private investors looking to invest in emerging economies are unable to hedge against the risk of fluctuations in the value of local currencies, because local markets simply aren't deep and wide enough, Banga said.

"That's the one that we're really trying to work on," he added.

The third issue is how to protect investors better from risks like war and civil unrest.

This task is currently split among three different World Bank Group institutions, and is done on far too small a scale, Banga explained.

If the bank is able to boost the amount of political risk guarantees it can provide, and simplifies access, they could play a significant role in unlocking private capital, he said.

"The reality is that that gap between tens and hundreds of billions to trillions is not a number that the bank can fill," he added.

"That's why you do eventually need the private sector."

da/dw

Read More........ → Categories: , , ,
→

A Coal Billionaire Is Building the World’s Biggest Clean Energy Plant to Power 16 Million Homes in India

Bhadla Solar Park in Gujarat, seen from ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-2, satellite, will pale in comparison to Khavda when it’s completed

The Khavda solar and renewables park in a barren salt pan in India’s state of Gujarat is going to be big; really, really big.

Its aim is for 30 gigawatts—as much as the national grid of Switzerland. It will sprawl out across an area of lifeless desert five times the size of Paris costing $20 billion, and generate enough to power 16 million Indian homes.

In fact, this one renewables farm is estimated to provide 9% of the entire Indian renewable portfolio by 2070 when it finishes in a few years. The project involves solar panels, wind turbines, and battery storage.

“A region so large, a region that is so unencumbered, there’s no wildlife, there’s no vegetation, there’s no habitation. There is no better alternative use of that land,” said Sagar Adani, the executive behind all the powers and departments making the project possible.

Nephew to India’s second-richest man, Adani is the executive director of Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) a subsidiary of the Adani Group, India’s largest coal-power owner-investor.


It’s inspiring to see a family that has a net worth of $100 billion directing its resources, both corporate and personal, to a project of the scale of Khavda, which is set to be the largest renewable power plant on Earth.

The Adani Group plans to invest $100 billion into energy transition over the next decade, with 70% of the investments earmarked for clean energy, according to CNN.

In 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged that India would achieve net zero emissions by 2070, and the scale of the Khavda project is likely to be music to his ears.

India bulls see the economic future of the subcontinent as one of perhaps unprecedented growth, with 6% annualized expansion, and 600 million people entering the middle and upper-income brackets in the next 10 years alone.

Such flourishing requires energy, and the demand in the country for air conditioning alone is expected to overtake all of Africa by 2050.On such a scale, it’s unsurprising that Sagar Adani has stopped reading and calculating numbers on the Khavda plant—they’re too big and too abstract, he says, and it sounds like that’s how it ought to be if India is going to avoid the worst of 1.5°C of warming. A Coal Billionaire Is Building the World’s Biggest Clean Energy Plant to Power 16 Million Homes in India
Read More........ → Categories: , , , ,
→