In today’s workforce, it’s common for people to change careers multiple times over the course of their lives. So, where are these workers coming from and moving to? The team at Qualtrics set out to shed some light on this topic with a study showing us the most common jobs for people in different age categories. They used data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to create easy-to-read illustrated graphs showing us trends in careers separated by age groups. Here are just a few of the facts found on these graphs: •
- For any age, the most prevalent job is a *customer service representative*.
- For ages 16-24, the most prevalent job is a *cashier*.
- For ages 25-34, the most prevalent job is a *registered nurse*.
- For ages 35-54, the most prevalent job is an *elementary or middle school teacher*.
- For ages 55-64, the most prevalent jobs are *sales workers and truck drivers*.
- For those aged 65 and older, the most prevalent job is a *farmer, rancher, or agricultural manager*.
We can see from the results that wages and experience have a significant impact on what jobs are most common, depending on age. Many people between the ages of 16 and 24 are cashiers and servers because these are low-paying jobs that require hours on their feet. Young people take these jobs because no extensive experience or education is necessary to get them, but once people gain experience, they seem to move on to higher-paying jobs that require an education, like teaching and nursing. As for seniors working past retirement age, we see this is most common in the agriculture industry, mainly because these farms and businesses are passed through the generations and are part of that lifestyle.
