Annual inflation has outpaced wage growth for 16 consecutive months.
While the July inflation report provided some small relief, Americans across multiple income brackets are feeling the pressure.
As Jessica Dickler from CNBC reported at the end of June, 58% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.
As the Bureau of Labor Statistics stated in their Employment Situation report on August 10:
“Real average weekly earnings increased 0.5 percent over the month due to the change in real average hourly earnings combined with no change in the average workweek.
Real average hourly earnings decreased 3.0 percent, seasonally adjusted, from July 2021 to July 2022.
The change in real average hourly earnings combined with a decrease of 0.6 percent in the average workweek resulted in a 3.6-percent decrease in real average weekly earnings over this period.”
That means on average, employees in U.S. cities, inflation factored in, are making 3.6% less income than 12 months ago.
Here is another way to look at it. The following figures are taking the exact national averages of the in the BLS report.
- You made $47,550 twelve months ago
- You received a raise of $2,450 to $50,000.
- That $50,000 is equal to the buying power of $45,750
- Your 4.9% “raise,” factoring in 8.5% annual inflation is equal to -$1,800 in actual buying power.
So what can you do? Well, you can and probably want to make more money.
Let’s start with what not to do. For the average person, “training as a computer programmer” is NOT GOOD ADVICE, especially not right now.
The tech sector is being hit harder than most by increased interest rates, and two consecutive quarters of a shrinking economy, whether that happens to be called a “recession” or not.
The name doesn’t matter, the point is most big tech companies are next to almost impossible to get into without a Computer Science degree. Most of them, including Google, Facebook and Microsoft are either implementing hiring freezes, decreasing their tech hiring quotas or laying workers off.
There are other tech jobs that don’t require programming skills so are faster to learn, and are in demand, and that do pay reasonably well.
And there are some non-tech jobs that are red-hot as well.
Here are seven hot jobs — four tech and three non-tech — that are in demand and pay more than the median US income.
Hot Tech Jobs
1. Software Sales Rep
Sales is one of the largest professionals in the U.S. and is needed in every field, with over 13 million employed in sales. While the work can tend to be stressful, it can pay well, and on a part-time basis to supplement as well as on a full-time basis.
A software sales rep is ideal for someone who is both tech-savvy and also good at soft skills such as a good communicator who is not afraid to cold call.
U.S. Average Salary: $81,067
U.S. Entry Salary: $51,000
2. Sales Force Admin
A Sales Force Administrator is a job that is in demand, as the world’s leading CRM platform has over 150,000 customers worldwide.
Sales Force provides free training and certification for this job online here.
U.S. Average Salary: $80,984
U.S. Entry Salary: $55,000
3. IT Specialist
The Google IT Support on Coursera is just one of the popular professional certificates available. As of this writing, over 1 million have enrolled.
In their blog from 2019, Coursera claimed that 84% of learners who did the course had positive impacts in their careers in some way.
U.S. Average Salary: $78,840
U.S. Entry Salary: $55,000
4. Web Designer
Faster than learning to code, one can learn to build websites using low-code or no-code solutions such as WordPress.
U.S. Average Salary: $59,353
U.S. Entry Salary: $42,000
Hot Non-Tech Jobs
As a greater part of the Millennial Generation and even more so Generation Z have shifted towards online interests than earlier generations, there are less that reach towards “boring” jobs like these. Thus, I predict that skilled “boring” jobs will continue to increase in value over the next decade as technicians get more scarce.
1. Project Manager
A project manager’s job needs to be a skilled organizer as well as a good communicator. This person plans, budgets, and keeps a close eye on projects to effectively manage their time and the team’s resources. This requires being computer literate. Skills in programs like Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel or other apps help.
The Project Management Institute provides certification for this. This takes a moderate investment of time and it costs around $500, but they boast that project professionals who get their certification make 25% more than the national average.
U.S. Average Salary: $96,229
U.S. Entry Salary: $68,000
2. HVAC Technician
This training is a bit longer, but as long as summers are hot and/or winters are cold, this job will be in demand.
According to different schools I checked out online, it can take anywhere from 15 months to two years to train to be an HVAC technician. The HVAC Academy just a few hours up the road from me in Orlando, Florida boasts that they are one of the fastest.
U.S. Average Salary: $49,429
U.S. Entry Salary: $34,000
3. CDL Driver
This job requires some training and passing a test for a CDL, or commercial driver’s license. Another “boring” job, this is in high demand.
U.S. Average Salary: $58,020
U.S. Entry Salary: $38,000
Start Upping Your Game Now
As a person, you are either growing or shrinking. That applies to personal development and certainly applies to your personal finances due to inflation.
Where do you begin? Pick a job that you are interested in, and start your learning path based off of this.
You can start by googling “how to become a (blank).”
You can start your self study for free on YouTube or by reading books, but to strengthen your résumé, I would recommend that you do a paid course. If you have the time and money to invest, there are also trade schools and community colleges that offer in-person learning.
A good place to start for online training that I am familiar with is Coursera which offers unlimited courses for $59/month; there are many others.
Whether you have a job or not, now is a good time to spend a few extra nights and a weekend day learning a new skill or sharpening some old ones.
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