New jobs sprouting from nowhere

If you’ve never heard of a “life simplifier” or a “workplace wellbeing manager” that’s because 10 years ago they didn’t exist. We take a look at the essential jobs that have emerged in the last decade and what salary they bring.

IF YOU’VE never heard of a “life simplifier” or a “workplace wellbeing manager” that’s because 10 years ago they didn’t exist.

Social expert and demographer, Mark McCrindle, has crunched the data and revealed exclusively to The Sunday Mail the 10 jobs that didn’t exist a decade ago.

He said the biggest trend emerging with young job-hopefuls was big expectations on minimal effort.

Matt Bakker and Micah Oberon on their urban farm in Corinda. Urban farmers are growing in demand, providing food produce for the city rather than being rural or remote. Picture: AAP/John Gass

“Less than half of Australians go to university, but are still looking for quality jobs,” he said.

“The new platforms prove there is something for everyone, without necessarily needing a degree.

“The job market is constantly changing. Looking at Australian Bureau of Statistics data from four decades ago, the biggest occupation categories back then were typists and stenographers. It is amazing how quickly it changes because there’s not too many of those around now.

“Even some of the jobs of the last decade are pretty mainstream now, like app developers and cyber security professionals.”

Mr McCrindle said ABS data revealed there were now workplace wellbeing managers, who are hired to look out for the social, mental and physical wellbeing of team members, and combine the roles of HR managers, and psychologists.

Other emerging occupations include an office concierge, robot technician and drone delivery pilot.

Another important career which has emerged is urban farmer, something Mr McCrindle believes we will see more of in the future.

Urban farmers produce food and green space in the inner city, despite most people believing farming takes place in rural or remote areas.

Matt Bakker and Micah Oberon have been urban farmers in Oxley, about 20 minutes from the Brisbane CBD, for three years.

“We discovered an old abandoned block of land that was previously a tomato farm, so we transformed it into an organic farm,” Mr Bakker said.

“We are in the in the heart of suburbia, about five minutes from Oxley train station and 10k from the CBD. We produce a range of mixed vegetables, including fresh salad mixes, sweet baby carrots and cherry tomatoes.

“The majority of our produce is sold directly to the local community every Friday afternoon through our roadside stall, the rest is distributed to several local cafes and buyers clubs.”

Employment organisation SEEK lists the top six jobs that were not in existence a decade ago as search engineer optimisation (SEO) specialists, cloud architects, data scientists, digital marketing specialists, user experience designers and content creators.

ESSENTIAL JOBS THAT DIDN’T EXIST A DECADE AGO

SEO SPECIALIST

Uses keywords and phrases to help people discover a business’s website.

AVERAGE SALARY $82,130

CLOUD ARCHITECT

Oversees a company’s strategy for internet-based computing to improve business operations.

AVERAGE SALARY $145,527

DATA SCIENTIST

Analyses the data received to help with decisions and finding areas for improvement.

AVERAGE SALARY $123,030

DIGITAL MARKETING SPECIALIST

Drives promotion in the digital space to help businesses attract and engage with customers.

AVERAGE SALARY $78,761

USER EXPERIENCE DESIGNER

Oversees the “experience” of a website, product or app to ensure it’s pleasing to use to encourage customer interactions.

AVERAGE SALARY $103,237

CONTENT CREATOR

Creates and contributes valuable information for audiences to consume, most often for online mediums to help businesses attract and retain customers.

AVERAGE SALARY $64,977