Professions of the Year: Who are the main protagonists of the labour market in 2024?

The year 2024 has been characterised by significant changes in the world of work. Against a backdrop of the rise of artificial intelligence, significant environmental and political challenges, rapid advances in technology, and heaps of other factors, companies are adapting to new challenges. These changes are creating new career opportunities for professionals across industries. We've compiled a list of the most in-demand professions this year. We'll also tell you why they earned their place in the ranking and share some interesting facts.

Energy Broker: The New Age Specialist

With a lot of emphasis now being placed on environmental issues, the profession of energy broker is becoming more and more in demand. These specialists help companies to find optimal energy supply contracts and play a key role in cost optimisation and sustainability. Brokers compare offers from different suppliers, ensuring that their clients receive the most suitable terms and conditions. Brokerage firms often offer their staff intensive in-house training, allowing them to learn the nuances of the market and develop skills such as negotiation and sourcing.

The sector attracts a wide range of professionals, which is helping to change the traditional gender balance. The profession is becoming more versatile, with 50 per cent of vacancies offering remote working opportunities, making it attractive to young professionals and family professionals. And an interesting fact is that in 2024, the use of artificial intelligence to analyse the energy market has become the norm, allowing brokers to work faster and more accurately to predict changes in energy prices.

Chief Revenue Officer: The Architect of Growth

These high-level executives play a key role in driving business growth. They analyse market data, identify opportunities and formulate strategies to realise them. These professionals are typically highly educated, with over 92% holding a master's degree or higher. Their expertise in business development makes them indispensable in an increasingly digitalised environment.

The complexity of their work requires high analytical skills and the ability to manage large teams. Remote working opportunities in this field remain limited for now, but are gradually increasing, making this profession more flexible. Interestingly, this year specialists started to actively use virtual reality to build financial models and visualise data, which significantly accelerated the decision-making process.

CSR Manager: Guardian of sustainability

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) managers develop strategies to reduce a business's environmental impact, and their key job is to help companies comply with laws and regulations related to sustainability. Skills in CSR, sustainability and environmental reporting make these professionals indispensable. The profession attracts both women (69%) and men (31%), making it one of the most gender-balanced in this ranking.

The role of CSR managers includes developing initiatives aimed at reducing the company's carbon footprint and monitoring its environmental performance. Such professionals are also actively involved in the preparation of environmental impact reports, which became mandatory in 2024. Not to be left out, people who work in this area have become important participants in renewable energy transition programmes, including the installation of solar panels and the introduction of electric vehicles into corporate fleets.

Customer Experience Manager: Key to loyalty

The role of customer service managers is to help users maximise their use of a company's products and services. They handle complaints, process them and ensure high levels of customer satisfaction. Most professionals work in the technology, information and internet sectors, as well as in consulting companies. The skills most often required for the job include customer relationship management and knowledge of CRM systems.

The key task of these managers is to create long-term relationships with customers, which helps companies retain existing audiences and attract new users. This is a really important and necessary profession, as no machine with artificial intelligence will understand customer needs the way a competent human can. That's why in 2024, the introduction of chatbots and voice assistants has become an important tool for automating customer support as it becomes possible to collect more feedback.

AI engineer: Who is creating the technology of the future?

These professionals develop computer programmes capable of performing complex tasks such as image processing and predictive analytics. Applications of their work range from industrial automation to healthcare. Therefore, the most in-demand skills are machine learning, data science and automatic natural language processing. The vast majority of AI engineers (94.3%) have a master's degree or higher, and the average length of service is around two years. 

AI specialists are actively working to create new algorithms that have applications in areas such as smart cities, security systems, and distance learning. These people are doing a tremendous job of improving what we encounter every day. Surprisingly, this year engineers have started to develop systems that analyse not only text data, but also visual and audio cues to predict customer needs.

Recruitment Manager: The Master of Hiring

In today's companies, recruitment officers play an important role in ensuring that candidates are sourced and hired effectively. They are involved in all stages of the process, from creating job postings to conducting interviews. The most in-demand skills are recruiting, HR management and utilising digital platforms. On average, employees have three years' experience and actively enjoy flexible working arrangements, including remote working.

Recruitment professionals help companies stay competitive by finding the most qualified people in the labour market. It's also worth noting that this year recruiters began using artificial intelligence to automate routine tasks, allowing them to focus on strategic hiring.

Conclusion: Professions of the Year

2024 was a year of opportunity and innovation for professionals around the world. From AI engineers to CSR managers, each of the professions on this list have demonstrated their relevance and importance in the face of today's challenges. If you're looking for inspiration for career development or a career change, these destinations could be a great choice for you.