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Machine Learning Dominates LinkedIn Emerging Jobs Study

• By David Ramel
• 01/09/2019

The 2018 U.S. Emerging Jobs Report from LinkedIn is dominated by machine learning positions, further marking the rise of artificial intelligence technologies in the enterprise.

The business-oriented social site conducts the study each year to highlight the jobs and skills experiencing the most rapid growth and high demand in the U.S., and published the 2018 report late last month.

"Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here to stay," said LinkedIn Chief Economist Guy Berger in describing the biggest takeaway from the new report. "No, this doesn't mean robots are coming for your job, but we are likely to see continued growth in fields and functions related to AI. This year, six out of the 15 emerging jobs are related in some way to AI, and our research shows that skills related to AI are starting to infiltrate every industry, not just tech. In fact, AI skills are among the fastest-growing skills on LinkedIn, and globally saw a 190 percent increase from 2015 to 2017."

Positions related to AI and ML figures also figured strongly in the 2017 report, where "machine learning engineer" topped the list.

This year, "machine learning engineer" placed No. 2 on the list, with "machine learning specialist" coming in at No. 4 and "machine learning researcher" at No. 14.

The very top emerging job, however, was identified as blockchain developer, based on the surging interest in blockchain technologies such as cryptocurrency. "Only time will tell if blockchain will be a long-standing trend in the job market," Berger said.

Here's the top 15 emerging jobs in the 2018 list:

1. Blockchain Developer (33X growth)
2. Machine Learning Engineer (12X growth)
3. Application Sales Executive (8X growth)
4. Machine Learning Specialist (6X growth)
5. Professional Medical Representative (6X growth)
6. Relationship Consultant (5.5X growth)
7. Data Science Specialist (5X growth)
8. Assurance Staff (5X growth)
9. Sales Development Representative (4X growth)
10. Business Support Consultant (4X growth)
11. Solar Power Consultant (4X growth)
12. Administrative Assistant (4X growth)
13. Background Investigator (4X growth)
14. Machine Learning Researcher (4X growth)
15. Data Science Manager (4X growth)

LinkedIn also charted the jobs with the largest hiring growth, described as the jobs that saw strong and steady demand over the last four years and experienced the largest growth in hiring rates in the country, where "software engineer" was No. 1, reflecting the findings of many other tech job reports.

The company also followed up on its study of how AI is impacting jobs and provided the following graphic on AI skill penetration across industries as measured 2015-2017:

"Researchers predict that AI will have applications across nearly every industry sector -- from manufacturing to financial services and beyond," Berger said. "We looked across industries to figure out whether AI is still confined to the software industry, or if it has begun to spill over and impact other fields. The answer? Nearly every industry is starting to see an influx of AI-related skills."

LinkedIn produces the annual report by analyzing its Economic Graph data between 2014 and 2018.