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Skill forecasting by industry

Which skills gain demand in 20 U.S. industries: O*NET 31.0 skill importance weighted by BLS 2025–35 employment projections.

Data compiled 2026-10-09 · BLS 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · AEI May 2026

How to read it

A skill gains demand when the occupations that rate it as important are projected to grow faster than the rest of the industry.

O*NET 31.0 Database · BLS National Employment Matrix 2025–35

All industries

Sorted by projected growth of skill-rated jobs

Skills: O*NET 31.0 Database. Weights and growth: BLS National Employment Matrix 2025–35.
IndustryJobs, 2025–35Fastest-growing skill demandSkill demand
Utilities+9.7%Installation+11.2%
Healthcare and Social Assistance+9.3%Science+10.2%
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services+8.4%Science+9.7%
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation+5.7%Operations Analysis+6.3%
Construction+5.0%Installation+6.2%
Information+4.9%Programming+7.5%
Accommodation and Food Services+4.3%Operations Analysis+4.8%
Management of Companies and Enterprises+3.9%Science+4.8%
Other Services (Except Public Administration)+3.7%Equipment Maintenance+4.8%
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing+3.3%Equipment Maintenance+3.9%
Transportation and Warehousing+3.1%Operations Analysis+3.7%
Wholesale Trade+2.0%Equipment Maintenance+3.2%
Finance and Insurance+1.9%Science+3.3%
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting+1.1%Science+2.0%
Administrative, Support, and Waste Management Services+0.9%Operation and Control+1.4%
Educational Services+0.6%Science+1.6%
Government+0.6%Science+1.3%
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction+0.6%Quality Control Analysis+0.9%
Manufacturing+0.5%Science+1.4%
Retail Trade−0.2%Operation and Control+0.6%

Sources & methodology

Every figure on this page comes from the public datasets below. We do not edit the source values; derived figures are explained here.

  1. Skill importance is the O*NET 31.0 importance rating (1–5) for the 35 essential and transferable skills.
  2. For each skill, we weight every occupation's importance by its employment in the industry (BLS National Employment Matrix) in 2025 and in 2035. The demand change is the percent change in that skill-weighted employment.
  3. Skills whose demand grows faster than the baseline — the projected change for all skill-covered occupations in the industry — are concentrated in the industry's faster-growing occupations.
  4. This reflects changes in occupational mix only; it assumes each occupation's skill profile stays as O*NET rates it today.
  5. BLS occupations are matched to O*NET-SOC codes with the BLS O*NET-to-NEM crosswalk; where a BLS occupation spans several O*NET occupations, we average their values.

  • O*NET 31.0 Database

    This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Metaintro has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

    Vintage: O*NET 31.0, August 2026 release. License: CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-09.

  • BLS National Employment Matrix 2025–35

    U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program. 2025–35 National Employment Matrix, industry-occupation employment.

    Vintage: 2025 base year, 2035 projection, released August 27, 2026. License: Public domain (U.S. federal government work). Retrieved 2026-10-09.

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