The 3 hottest jobs right now

The Fed needs to start cutting rates now, strategist says

As the jobs market appears to be cooling, there are three roles that are still red hot.

In April, there were 8.06 million available jobs posted in the U.S. — the lowest level since February 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report. In all, the U.S. added a higher-than-anticipated 272,000 jobs in May.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked up to 4% in May from 3.9% in April, the bureau reported. While still low, the unemployment rate had been below 4% since February 2022.

With mixed signals throughout the market, it’s an uncertain time to look for a new job or make a career leap. But there are three jobs that employers are looking to hire for — and are willing to pay a premium to attract top talent for, according to a recent report by Pave and Greenhouse.

Machine learning engineering

Engineers who are able to work with artificial intelligence have a significant competitive advantage, as employers look to attract and retain machine learning talent.

Base salaries for machine learning engineers have soared 25% between the first quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, according to the report. That’s in contrast with software engineering generalists, who have seen salaries increase just 4% in the same period.

Technical recruiting

Recruiting hiring is also back in full swing after a pandemic-era lull, the report said. This has resulted in a 56% increase in base salary for technical recruiting jobs between the third quarter of 2023 and the second quarter of this year, compared with just an 8% increase in base pay for HR Generalists in March.

Office and facilities management

And as companies look to lure employees back to the office, office and facilities management specialists are in high demand. Since the first quarter of 2024, base salaries for these roles have risen 15%.