Tech experts and cleaners will be the most in demand jobs in 2021

Technology experts and essential workers such as cleaners will be the most in-demand job roles of 2021, while the travel industry is likely to see something of a comeback, experts have predicted.

Roles including software developers and engineers and app developers will continue to grow as companies transform their businesses in the digital world. Picture: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

The forecast comes after research revealed that couriers were the most in-demand jobs of the past year, followed by sales and customer services. Teachers came fourth, while project managers were in fifth place.

The study by tech outfit Quadrotech analysed the UK job market to reveal the most in-demand jobs of 2020. By analysing UK job listings over the past 12 months, the firm looked at the number of vacancies and the salaries on offer to find out which industries had the highest growth and which job roles are the most and least in-demand, to forecast what jobs of the future might look like.

Nigel Williams, chief marketing officer at Quadrotech, said: “The job market is constantly shifting to meet the demands of employers, employees, and the businesses they serve.

“The jobs on offer to our grandparents’ generation look very different to the in-demand roles of today. We service companies across the sector and are seeing a consistent change in trends and processes as we navigate this uncertain period.

“To find the jobs of the future, we wanted to see the roles that were increasing and declining to see the industries most affected, and how skill sets across the board are consistently changing with the times.

“The results show us that there’s a clear increase in the new ‘normal’ that comes with 2020 and mental health is leading the forefront of change, as, quite rightly, we start to prioritise caring for our mental as well as physical health.”

Looking towards the year ahead, Williams noted: “We expect technology and essential workers to be the in-demand job roles of 2021, as we hopefully begin to head back to normality. We’ve had a big shake up and it will take a while for some of the roles that have been demoted to make their way back up the leaderboard.

“We’re seeing a continuous rise in tech roles, with the correlation of salaries being amongst the highest in the report.

“This is where talent and focus will continue to grow in 2020 as businesses continue to invest in technology to support business growth and at-home working.

“Roles including software developers and engineers and app developers will continue to grow as companies transform their businesses in the digital world.”

He added: “We expect demand for cleaners to continue to be strong as we guard ourselves for the future. We also expect some travel roles to make a comeback later in 2021 when the industry starts to open up again.”

The snapshot for 2020 showed that with increased awareness and discussion of practising self-care and talking openly about mental health and wellbeing, vacancies for mental health counsellors surged 671 per cent over the past year.

Salaries for the role have also increased as the position comes more in demand, rising by 47.4 per cent to £42,619.

The worst hit industry by the pandemic was the travel sector. Before the crisis, there were an average 642 travel agent vacancies listed. This has now dropped to just 85 a month.

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