Tech of the Future

Looking for a new career in tech? Whether you’re interested in IT or building the latest innovation (like Tesla’s new cybertruck), it’s good to know what tech jobs and skills are emerging in today’s market—along with the companies and regions hiring for them.

To help, we combed through our job postings data to find the rapidly emerging tech jobs over the last two years. We looked for jobs that had the largest increase in postings, as opposed to the most postings.

So without any further ado, let’s look at 10 emerging tech jobs you should know about for 2020. 

1. Cloud Data Engineer

As companies increasingly move from internal data systems to cloud data storage, there is a skyrocketing need for engineers to configure and manage these complex implementations.

Top five companies posting: Javen Technologies, Essex Management Corp., Slalom, Everest Technologies, Google

Top 10 skills: Data engineering, Google Cloud, data analysis, devops, Amazon Web Services, Python, SQL, Java, Extract Transform Load, big data

2. Site Reliability Engineer/Developer

Site reliability engineers and developers are a happy medium between software engineering and operations. So it’s not surprising to see demand from big companies like Google and Apple. They use their software engineering skills to create and maintain scalable and reliable software systems, which often include automation. 

Top five companies posting: Oracle, Google, IBM, Apple, JP Morgan Chase

Top 10 skills: Reliability engineering, Python, Infrastructure, Linux, Java, automation, scalability, management, scripting, operations

3. MVC Developer

In case you’re wondering, MVC stands for Model-View-Controller, a software design pattern that’s become popular for designing web applications. MVC developers use this pattern to separate what they see on the back end from what users see and interact with on the front end. 

Top five companies posting: Oracle, Camden, Bayshore Solutions, Buchanan & Edwards, Jack Henry & Associates 

Top 10 skills: Model view controller, C#, .NET framework, unit testing, integration, software development, software engineering, SQL, Java, ASP .NET MVC framework

4. Data Analytics Specialist

We have a bunch of these here at Emsi! Data analytics specialists are like the museum curators of data. They gather, clean, validate, aggregate, and analyze data from various sources to make conclusions about industry trends and best practices. 

Top five companies posting: Verizon, Booz Allen Hamilton, CBRE, Accenture, IBM

Top 10 skills: Data analysis, SQL, management, Tableau, communications, SAS, research, R, Python, Microsoft Excel

5. Cyber Defense Engineer

In an age where nearly everything is online, cyber defense engineers are becoming more and more in demand, particularly in banking. These engineers use cyber defense technologies to mitigate their organization’s exposure to Advanced Persistent Threats (APT), Advanced Evasion Techniques (AET), hacktivism, cybercrime, other types of online attacks.

Top five companies posting: U.S. Bank, General Dynamics, Deloitte, Coalfire Systems, AT&T

Top 10 skills/certifications: Cyber defense, operations, Linux, management, IT, Certified Information Systems Security Professional, network security, in-plane switching (IPS), leadership, scripting

*Note: There is not sufficient compensation data yet for some of these emerging tech jobs (including cyber defense engineers below). This is why average salary ranges may not be included for some jobs in some states.

6. Visual Interaction Designer

We’ve all seen variations to this job, whether it’s visual designer, interaction designer, UI designer, UX designer, etc. But it appears that companies are looking to combine some of these duties into one job: visual interaction designer. True to their name, visual interaction designers have one foot in the visuals bucket and one in the interaction bucket. They use both design and UX skills to shape and improve user experiences on websites and apps. 

Top five companies posting: The Barrel Company, Ideo, U.S. Bank, Viewpoint, Ivy Exec

Top 10 skills/certifications: Interaction design, graphic design, prototyping, Sketch, presentations, Adobe Creative Suite, animations, user experience, design strategies, digital media

7. Content Management Specialist

Content management specialists are more “front end” than some of these other tech jobs, controlling the information uploaded to a website or app. They use marketing-focused skills like writing and content strategy (and sometimes a content management system, or CMS) to tell a story via digital mediums.

Top five companies posting: Anthem, Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon, Wieck, Louis Berger

Top 10 skills/certifications: Content management, management, writing, workflows, digital content, governance, content strategy, scalability, innovation, advising

8. ETL/Informatica Developer

Like data analytics specialists, ETL/Informatica developers are wranglers of data. They use the ETL (extract, transform, load) procedure to copy data from one or more sources into a new host system, such as a data warehouse, to optimize data for analytics. And they’re well-versed in Informatica, an enterprise cloud data management tool.

Top five companies posting: Anthem, Launch, Nityo Infotech, Cognizant, CommEx Consulting

Top 10 skills/certifications: Extract Transform Load (ETL), SQL, data warehousing, scripting, mapping, PL/SQL, Informatica PowerCenter, shell script, data modeling, performance tuning

9. RPA Developer

With automation disrupting with workplace, it makes sense that we’d see RPA (robotic process automation) developers growing quickly. Typically, RPA developers create, design, develop, and implement RPA systems and automated processes to maximize efficiency. 

Top five companies posting: Altran, Capgemini, Swift Transportation, Systems Technology Group, Tachyon Technologies

Top 10 skills/certifications: Automation, business process automation, .NET framework, Java, SQL, agile software development, business process, C#, robotics, communications

10. Infrastructure Developer

Infrastructure developers are the relatively new kids on the block in IT. In the past, infrastructure (like servers and networks) was all hardware. No code necessary. But with virtualization, infrastructure developers are now needed to code the infrastructure that apps sit on top of. If app development were like building a house, infrastructure developers would be pouring the foundation. 

Top five companies posting: Oracle, JP Morgan Chase, Liberty Mutual, IBM, The Judge Group

Top 10 skills/certifications: Infrastructure, Python, Java, agile software development, management, Linux, software development, integration, scripting, operating systems

Looking ahead to 2020

A new decade is on the horizon. And with it comes emerging tech jobs and skills to reflect the ever-changing labor market in the U.S.

One skill to note is Python, which appears four times in this list. It’s not surprising to see Python pop up, nor is it a particularly emerging skill in tech. But if you’re considering a career in tech, it’s definitely something you’ll want to add to your toolbox.

As we can see from this list, it’s not just one type of tech role that’s emerging, either. Instead, there’s a solid mix of front end, back end, cybersecurity, engineering, and even some communications jobs. And there’s a variety of companies, too, from finance and transportation to telecommunications and defense.

It just goes to show that the tech industry is growing and evolving. And if we want to keep up, we’ll need to keep tabs on these emerging tech jobs and skills.

For more information about Emsi, our job postings data, or our skills data, contact Rob Sentz at rob@economicmodeling.com.