Posted on 09/26/2025 9:19:23 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
In light of the rapid advancements that AI tools have made since the release of ChatGPT in late 2022, people have been pondering the potential of artificial intelligence to replace certain occupations, trying to figure out if and how the nascent technology will change the way people work.
And while the focus of discussions like this is often on the risk of certain jobs being replaced by emerging technologies, these shifts, as well as societal changes, usually offer new employment opportunities as well.
Think of the rise of e-commerce for example: while it has led to a decline in retail jobs and is projected to continue to do so, it has supported strong job growth in transportation and warehousing and still does. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment Projections, transportation and material moving will be among the faster-growing occupational groups for the coming decade as well, projected to add 580,000 jobs by 2034, with warehouse workers and truck drivers particularly in demand.
But as Statista's Felix Richter shows in the chart below, by far the biggest increase in employment is expected in the healthcare and social assistance sector, which is driven less by technological changes and more by demographic shifts.
You will find more infographics at Statista
Due to the ageing population and the growing prevalence of chronic conditions, the wider healthcare sector is projected to account for 1.7 million new jobs by 2034, making up one third of all new jobs expected by the end of the projection period.
Looking at individual occupations, this trend is also evident, with home health and personal care aids projected to be by far the fastest-growing occupation over the next decade, adding 740,000 jobs by 2034. With registered nurses, medical and health service managers as well as nurse practitioners also in the top 10, it’s clear that the health sector as a whole is going to be a major driver of employment growth in the near future.
one of my brothers does concrete work
he started with a shovel and now makes 6 or 7 figures
built his own concrete company
It is complicated, a service call can be anything from simple and routine, to very complex and high dollar.
“ plumbers have to communicate with the customer, win the customer, take repairs to their full level of quality, and make sales.”
Our son manages a tire shop and the breadth of what he has to know and do is amazing. He has employees and has to take care of them. Retain good ones, help poor performers. He has to win new customers and retain customers. He has to be an expert salesman, win customer confidence, be a tire expert, and upsell customers for other work while being a trusted, honest advisor. He has to know a lot about cars, how they work, and what maintenance is required. He has to use programs to do quotations and look up prices. He has to know local fire codes and shop safety. (They had a small fire recently and cannot open the shop with spent fire extinguishers). He has to keep the shop tidy, clean and attractive. He has to paint over graffiti that shows up on walls. He has to file police reports. He has to battle corporate for more money to fix things in the shop (failed compressors, landscaping). He has daily, weekly and monthly performance goals and has to file daily reports. He’s been doing this several years and has steadily moved up. I never knew running a successful retail auto operation was so complicated.
Stockers and Order fillers?
Have these people been in a modern warehouse? Robots will be doing this stuff in ten years.
My neighbor is a plumber. He only does commercial stuff. He makes more than $100k, easy.
You did a great job of writing that out, all companies are looking for the kind of talent your son is.
Auto body repair.
With the millions of Xiden’s new drunken drivers on our highways, repairs will increase.
“Trades are a hard life.”
Especially on the knee joints...
I did a tiny amount of construction plumbing and couldn’t stand it, it was like a guy who is a great mechanic with his analyzing instincts and investigative intelligence that make him exceptional as an auto mechanic, worth top dollar and invaluable to customers, being stuck on an auto assembly line putting together the same shiny new parts over and over again, drone work, robot work, and your fellow workers are not the most interesting either.
Then he’s NOT the manager at my local “Tire Kingdom” in Sebring, Florida...
Thanks. I have to laugh. He is in Silicon Valley and most of his friends work for the big Tech Titans, but in very narrowly defined jobs. Our son has a business degree and always says “but I want to be ‘in business’ like them.” I always tell him you ARE “in business” — you are responsible for running a successful business! That’s something your friends do not do.
He is in a small town and, even in the heart of Silicon Valley, it is STILL a small town. He helps out local neighboring merchant customers a lot with favors and they reciprocate. Just a few days ago he helped out the owner of our local favorite coffee shop where we have been going for decades. She brought him lunch and a $25 gift certificate! These are things you will never experience in a cubicle in high tech. He gets a real high helping people and getting small rewards like that. It’s not a $50,000 bonus, but I swear he gets more out of the love people show him like that.
LOL…I know just what you mean.
Looks about right for our aging population.
Beau and I tease that we have our own ‘Healthcare Team’ right within the family. We have a Dental Tech, a Pharmacist, a Cardiac Nurse, a Bus driver (transportation in our old age!) and two Healthcare aids.
Not everyone in this current ‘younger generation’ is a slacker! ;)
Well, the railroads are in decline due to truck transport taking the freight.
Almost unbelievable, huh? He’s smoking some potent stuff.
Notice the absence of trades workers? Or did I miss that?
AI didn’t make those. I’ve seen all but one 20 years ago.
"Somebody's gotta cook the french fries, kid. You'll be good at it."
If a young person were to ask me, I'd say to just not participate in their world and to go DO something, anything that is legal, for SOMEONE who would pay them for it.
You saw that too, eh? No plumbers, no electricians, no pipe filters, no welders, no truck drivers or assembly or fabricator or airplane mechanics or .. .. ..
And I guess ALL construction workers and laborers are replaced by more illegal aliens.
Engineers are elite and to the higher side of the intelligence bell curve beyond the line noted above
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