It’s no secret that the job market has changed a great deal over the past decade or so. Our progress in many sectors has led to the creation of jobs that didn’t even exist twenty years ago, and that trend shows no signs of slowing down. Just look at job projections for 2025, and you’ll see that the world we live in is one of constant flux.
One of the main drivers of this flux and upheaval in the job market has been the tech industry. While many might look down upon tech, thinking that all it’s done is create robots to replace our jobs, tech has actually been a huge driver of employment in the last few years. Statistics show that from 2004 to 2014, the number of tech jobs grew 31 percent faster than any other high-growth sectors in the United States.
So while tech may be automating a whole lot of traditionally analog jobs, the tech sector is also responsible for a good deal of the job creation in today’s market, especially with the growth of the Internet of Things and technology’s increasingly pervasive influence on such huge industries as finance and healthcare. This is all to say that it’s a good time to get into tech. With that in mind, here are the top five high-paying tech jobs most in demand in 2016.
1. Data Scientist
It’s all about Big Data these days. As more and more businesses start moving their services online, the demand for data scientists who can scrape the internet for insights on user activity and interaction habits will only continue to go up. While the salary range for a data scientist can vary, it’s not uncommon to see a top data scientist earn over $100,000 a year, especially one who shows a mastery of R, the programming language often associated with data mining.
2. Swift Programmer
Swift, along with its predecessor Objective-C, is the official programming language for all things Apple (News - Alert), including iOS, OS X, tvOS, and watchOS, and as such, it’s a language continually in high demand. Apple products are still some of the most popular tech appliances in their respective fields, and any time there’s a need for development on an Apple-compatible project, you’ll need a Swift developer. Salaries vary based on the specific area of specialization, but with rumors that Google (News - Alert) is considering opening Swift up for Android development, the need for top-notch Swift (News - Alert) programmers will only grow faster in the coming years.
3. Ruby On Rails Developer
It’s commonplace these days to find a business or service that exists entirely online. The web is a powerful and versatile platform offering a wide range of services online, and where you require websites built for flexible adaptability in a fast-moving internet world, you’ll certainly find Ruby on Rails developers. Some of the internet’s most visited websites, including Twitch, Goodreads, and Hulu (News - Alert), to name a few, were built using Ruby on Rails, and given the popularity of those sites, it makes sense that a top Rails developer can make over $90,000 a year on average.
4. Database Administrator
The rise in popularity of data scientists should clue you into one thing: data is important. Included in that big umbrella of data is managing, organizing, and archiving all that data, and that’s where database administrators come in. Working behind the scenes to troubleshoot and make sure that data is always easily accessible and well organized, database administrators are often required to be experts in Structured Query Language (SQL), and because they work with such precious information on a regular basis, it’s not uncommon for a database administrator to make upwards of $75,000.
5. IT Manager
Because we live in a world where many companies are still not 100% tech-savvy, there’s an incredibly high demand for the IT guys. Without a good IT manager, a whole lot of companies would be in a world of hurt if any of their software or technology started misbehaving. An IT manager thus is always in high demand and is paid handsomely for his or her broad range of knowledge and skills; on average, IT managers can make over $125,000 a year.
What other high-paying tech jobs do you think are most sought after in 2016? Let us know in the comments!