Life

These Are The 5 Most Popular Jobs Among Young People

by Natalia Lusinski
Jacob Lund/Fotolia

Maybe it's easy to assume other millennials work in the same industry as you, like entertainment (in L.A.) or in finance (in New York City). But millennials are now the ~largest generation~ in America. Yep, they'll make up more than one in three adults by 2020, plus 75 percent of the U.S. workforce by 2025, according to the Brookings Institute. NBD, right?! So where are they working?

LinkedIn analyzed millions of millennial members' profiles in the United States from January–December 2016 and found that the most popular job was in media and entertainment. LinkedIn also discovered that millennials tend to be more skilled in social media marketing, economics, and software and IT programming skills than non-millennials.

"What we're seeing is a lot of Millennials flocking to the technology industry, which is no surprise," a LinkedIn spokesperson tells Bustle. "This generation's interest in tech is demonstrated by the skills they're acquiring and the companies they're interested in. Nearly all of the skills millennials are over-indexing on are related to technology. ... As technology becomes a larger part of nearly every industry, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as traditional roles continue to evolve to include more digital and technical skills."

As for the most popular jobs among Gen Y, here's what LinkedIn discovered — and some of the findings may surprise you!

1Media & Entertainment

Media and entertainment was the number one job category among millennials, with 40 percent of them working in these fields.

2Professional Services

Professional services came in second place, with 36 percent of millennials working in this category. According to LinkedIn, professional services includes roles like consulting, accounting, B2B services, and law.

3Healthcare & Pharmaceutical

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Healthcare and pharmaceutical came in third place, also with 36 percent of millennials working in these industries; however, people working in professional services had a higher number of professionals, making it the second most popular job field among millennials.

4Architecture & Engineering

chika_milan/Fotolia

Architecture and engineering came in fourth place in terms of popularity with millennials, so to speak, at 34 percent.

5Retail & Consumer Products

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Retail and consumer products came in fifth place, with 34 percent of millennials holding jobs under these headings. Those working in architecture and engineering had a higher number of professionals, so it was a notch above those working in retail and consumer products.

6What Kind Of Jobs Are Millennials Looking For?!

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LinkedIn found that nearly 40 percent of millennials indicated that making an impact is an important factor in their career decisions. And, as you'll see below, job roles in research-based positions, education, and healthcare are all included, which implies that Millennials want to solve issues, teach, and help others. I'm definitely on board with that!

  • Research - 52 percent
  • Education - 46 percent
  • Marketing - 41 percent
  • Healthcare Services - 40 percent
  • Media & Communication - 37 percent

Who knows? Perhaps you're one of the millennials who's looking for a job in a field mentioned above, or perhaps you follow some of the brands above? Whatever the case may be, as they say, knowledge is power, and it couldn't be more true when you're job-hunting.