To make sure we stay on the same page, let us first agree on the definitions of two words usually used interchangeably.
Occupation: a broad category of work or a field.
Job: a specific position or role within that field.

O*NET captures more than 700 occupations, and there are roughly 3.5 billion (formal) jobs in the world. For instance, there are millions of jobs related to the occupation of lawyer.
Let’s also remember a fact: occupations usually don’t disappear. I can tell you, with a decent level of confidence, that we can count fewer than 30 occupations that have entirely vanished (Elevator Operator, Switchboard Operator, and a bunch of others). Due to some global forces, new occupations actually appear — sometimes completely new in nature, but oftentimes a new (specific) version of an existing occupation. This is just like branching out. For instance, the ICT Security Specialist role branched out into Cyber Governance Risk and Compliance Specialist, Cyber Security Advice and Assessment Specialist, Cyber Security Analyst, and two others. According to a study, roughly 60% of employment in 2018 was found in job titles that did not exist in 1940 — New Frontiers: The Origins and Content of New Work, 1940–2018.

The story is different when it comes to jobs (or the number of jobs, for accuracy’s sake). The fluctuations and changes seem more dramatic. While some occupations remain relatively steady in the number of jobs, others see a dramatic decrease or increase — again, due to global forces.
If you’re choosing a career (or maybe shifting the one you have), you probably want to know which occupations will have the most jobs, or at least a relatively steady number of jobs, in the future.

Let’s start with the easiest and most practical approach. According to the World Economic Forum (Future of Jobs Report 2025), the occupations below are the most promising in terms of the largest and fastest expected growth — I suggest you also check domestic official information.

World Economic Forum’s Jobs Forecast, 2025~2030

By largest net job growth in absolute terms	In millions	By fastest net growth	Percentage growth
Farmworkers, Labourers, and Other Agricultural Workers	35	Big Data Specialists	>100
Light Truck or Delivery Services Drivers	<10	FinTech Engineers	<100
Software and Applications Developers	<8	AI and Machine Learning Specialists	<82
Building Framers, Finishers, and Related Trades Workers	<7	Software and Applications Developers	<60
Shop Salespersons	<5	Security Management Specialists	<58
Food Processing and Related Trades Workers	<5	Data Warehousing Specialists	<50
Car, Van and Motorcycle Drivers	<5	Autonomous and Electric Vehicle Specialists	<50
Nursing Professionals	<4	UI and UX Designers	<50
Food and Beverage Serving Workers	<4	Light Truck or Delivery Services Drivers	<47
General and Operations Managers	<3	Internet of Things Specialists	<45
Social Work and Counselling Professionals	<3	Data Analysts and Scientists	<42
Project Managers	<3	Environmental Engineers	<40
University and Higher Education Teachers	<2	Information Security Analysts	<39
Secondary Education Teachers	<2	Devops Engineer	<39
Personal Care Aides	<2	Renewable Energy Engineers	<39

For Japan, please refer to this post, to see the occupations with the highest job offer/applicant ratio, as well as those with relatively high demand (based on official local information). To complement this, according to the World Economic Forum, the occupations below are expected to have the corresponding (jobs) net growth rates between 2025 and 2030:

• AI and ML specialists: 51%
• Business development professionals: 20%
• General and operations managers: 17%
• Managing directors and chief executives: 13%

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Does it mean that paying attention only to the occupations listed above is what matters? No good career prospects with the rest? – Remember, there are more than 700 occupations.

Imagine if everybody targeted those very same occupations. Wouldn’t we end up in some crowded job applicant fields? Is there really no future with the rest of the occupations?

It’s true. Picking an occupation highly exposed to automation is probably a risky move. So, let’s factor those out — cashiers and ticket clerks, administrative assistants and executive secretaries, accounting, bookkeeping and payroll clerks, bank tellers, etc.

I believe it still makes sense to also pay attention to other occupations, even if they don’t have the same high-growth prospects as the ones highlighted above. After all, there is and will still be demand in occupations such as the “traditional” professions.

The key is to understand:

• The underlying changes affecting occupations. E.g., the same occupation may remain while the skills composition changes over time.
• The importance of not relying on a single source of information but instead on a combination that will help you determine which occupations are worth targeting — this means understanding the Skills Disruption Index, Ranking of Automation Exposure, etc. In another post, I proposed six pillars for choosing a career.
• New occupations emerge not only as a result of technological changes but also due to other trends, such as demographics and consumer tastes.
• No one can predict 100% which new occupations are coming, but there are always cues. Besides, as mentioned above, oftentimes, we see the branching out of a “traditional” occupation. Therefore, you can choose a traditional career with a branching-out mentality. Combined with this, you can also develop a first-mover strategy. For instance, occupations like neuro-marketing and information curator are in their infancy. They are not officially recognized in occupational databases yet (the occupations marketing and curator are), but they are already around. Likely, it is only a matter of time until the number of jobs for those starts to grow. When that happens, early birds will reap the salary premium.

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Despite all the above, you may still be one of those convinced that you really want to pursue a career that is neither included in the top-30 or top-40 growing list, nor has a bright outlook or even a business-as-usual prospect. Or, even “worse”, it’s included in the list of occupations most susceptible to automation.

Then, who am I to tell you not to go for it? After all, remember that occupations rarely vanish. If you are truly passionate about it, I’m sure you will put in the required extra-mile effort and even create your own market.