Healthcare and skilled trades lead 2026 job market demand outlook

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Despite a highly competitive job market, demand remains strong for workers in health care, essential services, infrastructure-related fields and other skills-based jobs, according to Monster’s latest report.

Monster’s 2026 Job Market Forecast, based on job postings and job seeker data for all of 2025, looked at the job market based on different concentrations to understand where work will be most in demand in 2026, so job seekers can be more targeted in their search for roles.

“The 2026 labor market is defined less by broad growth or decline than by divergence,” Munster jobs expert Vicki Salemi wrote in the report, adding that “employment demand is concentrated in sectors linked to basic services, public investment and specialized skills, while other areas continue to slow or undergo structural change.”

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Demand for health care and essential service workers remains strong. (Getty)

Helping job seekers understand “where demand is structurally supported, rather than temporarily increased, can mean the difference between chasing available opportunities and building a flexible career path,” Salemi continued.

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Overall, health care remains the strongest employment driver, according to the Monster report. The most in-demand roles in this field include registered nurse, physical therapist, respiratory therapist, occupational therapist, speech and language therapist, clinical social worker, and licensed professional counselor, according to the report.

The report also highlighted that skills-based, credential-based and hands-on jobs continue to outperform administrative staff support roles because they “meet ongoing real-world needs that cannot be easily automated or postponed,” Salemi said.

Overall, health care remains the strongest employment driver, according to the Monster report. (Brian Christa/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

She said there is a shift even in technology towards infrastructure, operations and stability rather than speculative expansion.

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Below are the positions required:

Skilled trade and technical services

(Practical technical skills with strong demand for replacement and maintenance)

Automotive technician/mechanic
Electronics technician
Repair technician

Transportation, logistics and basic services

(Approved personal roles supporting supply chains and emergency response)

Logistics specialist
Truck driver on the road
Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
Delivery person

The report also highlighted that jobs based on skills, credentials, and hands-on training continue to outperform roles supporting administrative staff. (Getty Images)

Technology and data

(Targeted technical roles directly linked to quality, performance and data infrastructure)