Despite mounting layoffs and a renewed clampdown on business activity to quell the coronavirus, demand for some jobs is rising in an economy that has been remade by the pandemic.
LinkedIn released data Tuesday that shows jobs in tech, workplace diversity and digital marketing are in high demand nationally and in the Bay Area, despite the global health crisis.
Lower-skilled jobs still tend to be done in person, and higher-skilled roles can more often be done remotely, according to Karin Kimbrough, chief economist for the Microsoft-owned professional networking site.
“There is an inequality there that we have to acknowledge,” she said. “It’s going to be a long time before remote work permeates all industries.”
Personal shoppers, delivery drivers and warehouse fulfillment roles are also in demand, with more than 400,000 openings, according to LinkedIn data.
Federal data shows that about half of those with graduate degrees are working remotely, while less than 1 in 10 of workers with a high school degree can do so.
The Bay Area tech industry continues to see plenty of openings for jobs that can be done remotely. That’s a mixed bag for the region: The hiring signals that Bay Area firms are healthy, but the economic benefits of new hiring may end up being distributed around the country.
Demand for software and other engineering roles rose by 25% from 2019 to 2020 on LinkedIn as the pandemic pushed more daily interactions online, a trend expected to continue into 2021.
Digital marketers with experience in social media and search engine optimization are in demand. Jobs in user experience — designers and analysts who seek to improve apps and websites — also increased by about 20% in the past year, according to LinkedIn data. Many of those jobs can also be done remotely, though the demand originates from local firms.
“The current levels of postings in the software and IT space is up to where it was pre-COVID nationally,” Kimbrough said, noting the area continued to be a strength in the Bay Area.
With some job seekers looking to leave the Bay Area during the pandemic, local companies are expanding where they search for hires. “Companies are more and more open to remote work, which actually opens up their candidate pool,” said Randi Weitzman, an executive director at Robert Half Technology who focuses on technology staffing.
Local tech companies are seeking more workplace diversity experts in the wake of the reckoning nationwide over policing and racial injustice.
Postings for workplace diversity experts — from chief diversity officers to more rank-and-file roles — have increased more than 90% since 2019, listings on LinkedIn show.
“The chief diversity officer title is one of the fastest growing C-suite roles overall nationally,” Kimbrough said.
With in-person shopping falling during the pandemic, jobs for marketing professionals who can supercharge online search results and create buzzy posts on social media are also on the rise.
Hiring for digital marketing professionals jumped 33% between 2019 and 2020, according to Linkedin data. The trend is likely to have staying power as shoppers retain their online habits.
Health care jobs, from nurses to mental health workers and support staff, are also seeing more demand than supply as the COVID-19 crisis stresses health systems.
With U.S. employers cutting 140,000 jobs last month, many in the travel and hospitality sector, Kimbrough said she is not overly optimistic about the job market in the near term.
“We think there’s going to be a little loss of traction for the next couple of months where we continue to improve but not at a great pace,” she said. Leisure and hospitality jobs will hopefully start to come back once vaccine distribution becomes more widespread, she said.
She added: “If I’m looking for lower skilled work that’s not digitally advanced, it’s much more susceptible to shutdowns during the pandemic.”
Chase DiFeliciantonio is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChaseDiFelice
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