How Many Jobs Are Available in Consumer Services?
Consumer services are services sold to individuals and families rather than to businesses. Retail, hospitality, leisure, education, healthcare, and social services are considered core consumer services fields, but there are plenty more subcategories and examples.
There are more than 130 million people working consumer service jobs in the US alone, with another 9.1 million service sector jobs currently available according to the latest estimates.
Here are the 5 countries with the most consumer services jobs available:
- USA
- China
- Japan
- Germany
- UK
The United States has more service sector jobs available than the next four countries combined, though there are plenty more international roles that could be filled by an expansion-minded business with the help of employer of record (EOR) companies.
In this article, we’ll highlight some key consumer services job statistics and explore some different types of consumer services in detail. We’ll also look at some of the biggest consumer service companies and reveal whether or not consumer services jobs pay well.
Key Consumer Job Statistics
- There are more than 140 million consumer service jobs in consumer services in the US. Around 9 million of these positions are currently available.
- 79% of the workforce in the US is employed in the service sector.
- Healthcare and social assistance is projected to add 2.1 million jobs in the US over the coming decade - about 45% of all new jobs. Four of the 10 industries projected to grow fastest through 2032 come from within this sector.
- Businesses in retail and wholesale consumer goods report that 70% of job openings aren’t filled, and 45% of jobs in leisure and hospitality are also open in the US.
- Nevada, Colorado, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Arkansas have all seen 70-100% increases in consumer services job openings from 2020 to 2023.
- Globally, the fastest declining roles of any type are clerical and secretarial jobs
- The highest-paying jobs in consumer services are in the finance sector, where average annual salaries are $120,000-$150,000.
- According to the World Economic Forum, the top 5 industries that see more than 25% churn (including people moving roles, new roles being created, and old roles being removed) are all service sector industries: Media, entertainment, and sports (32% churn); Government and public sector (29% churn); Information technology and digital communications (29% churn); Real estate (27% churn); Financial services (26% churn)/.
- Resignation rates in retail, accommodation and food services are 26% higher than the US national average.
Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Chamber of Commerce, World Economic Forum
Available Consumer Services Jobs by Industry
Below is a breakdown of consumer job availability statistics by industry, as per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Trade, Transportation, and Utilities
The trade, transportation, and utilities services supersector has 1.6 million job openings. Included in this supersector are several industries:
Wholesale trade has 242,000 open jobs. Jobs include freight, stock, and material movers; sales representatives; truck drivers; and wholesale and retail buyers.
Retail trade has 859,000 job openings. Jobs include cashiers, customer service representatives, retail sales roles, retail sales managers, stock clerks, and order fillers.
Transportation and warehousing hires about 130,000 roles per quarter. These positions include airline pilots, copilots, flight engineers, bust drivers, railroad conductors, railroad yardmasters, sailors, marine oilers, and truck drivers.
Utilities have had a smaller change in roles, only hiring about 6,000 jobs per quarter. These roles include control and valve installers and repairers; electrical engineers, electrical power-line installers and repairers; managers of mechanics, installers, and repairers, and meter readers.
Education and Health Services
The education and health services supersector has 1.9 million job openings. Education is the smaller sector of the two, and has 229,000 job openings, and includes teacher assistants, elementary, middle, and high school teachers, and education administrators. Health services has 1.7 million open roles, including home health aides, LPNs (licensed practical nurses), LVNs (licensed vocational nurses), and medical and health services managers.
Financial Activities
The financial activities supersector has 565,000 job openings.
Finance and insurance has 399,000 job openings, with roles including accountants, auditors, insurance sales agents, loan officers, bank tellers, and sales agents for securities, commodities, and financial services.
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing has 166,000 job openings, and includes the roles counter and rental clerks; property, real estate, and community association managers; real estate brokers; and real estate agents.
Information
The information services supersector has 265,000 open roles in the US. Services offered by EOR companies also make it possible for US firms to hire overseas talent for many of these positions.There are several sectors included here:
Publishing industries include editors, advertising sales agents, graphic designers, reporters, and correspondents, across newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishers, as well as software publishers.
Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries have roles that include actors, audio and video equipment technicians, cashiers, motion picture projectionists, and producers and directors.
Broadcasting roles include advertising sales agents, broadcast technicians, producers and directors, radio and television announcers, and reporters and correspondents.
Telecommunications jobs include customer service representatives, electronics engineers, managers of support workers, equipment installers and repairers, line installers and repairers, and telephone operators.
Data Processing and Hosting jobs include computer programmers, computer support specialists, computer systems analysts, and software developers for both applications and systems software.
Leisure and Hospitality
The leisure and hospitality services supersector has 1.4 million job openings. Average tenures can be quite short in this space so companies utilizing ATS software to fine-tune their hiring have an advantage.
In the Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation sector, there are 159,000 job openings, for roles like actors, amusement and recreation attendants, fitness trainers, aerobic instructors, gaming supervisors, and musicians and singers.
The Accommodations and Food Services sector has 1.1 million job openings, for roles in food preparation, servers, cooks, waiters and waitresses, and desk clerks at hotels, motels, and resorts.
Professional and Business Services
The professional and business services supersector has 1.4 million job openings.
The Professional, Scientific, and Technical sector includes accountants, auditors, architectural and civil drafters, lawyers, and management analysts.
Management of Companies and Enterprises includes accountants, auditors, bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks, financial managers, supervisors, general managers, and operations managers.
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services sector includes janitors, cleaners, laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, landscapers, groundskeepers, office clerks, and security guards.
Other Services
Bucketed broadly as “other services,” there are 328,000 job openings for roles like automotive service technicians, mechanics, hairdressers, hair stylists, cosmetologists, laundry and dry clear workers, and managers of mechanics, installers, and repairers,
Consumer services jobs by country/region
From 2020 to 2023, different states have had very different changes in job openings.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that Nevada, Colorado, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Arkansas have all seen 70-100% increases in job openings. The midwest, south, and Texas have seen a 40-69% increase.
Many of these roles are remote: US Census Bureau Report data analyzed by SelectSoftware Reviews revealed Colorado to be a work from home hotspot, with almost 40% of people in the Centennial State working from home.
The northeast, plains states, and west coast have seen the smallest growth in job openings, from 10-39%, with only Oregon having 0-9% increase in job openings.
Biggest consumer services companies
Below is a list of the biggest consumer services companies by market capitalization in 2023:
(Source: value.today)
Do consumer services jobs pay well?
Consumer service salaries vary significantly, with food services roles paying as low as $20,000 annually and the average financial services role paying more than $120,000 per year.
What are the best paid consumer service jobs?
The highest paying jobs in the service industry, paying on average $120,000-$150,000 annually, are heavily in the financial sector including investment banking, securities intermediation, securities and commodity contracts brokerage, reinsurance, portfolio management, and investment advice.
Electric power generation, natural gas distribution, and fossil fuel energy are another set of high-paying service roles, averaging about $130,00 annually, as well as scientific research and development in many fields where annual salaries average at $123,000.
Programming roles, like computer programming services, computer systems design, and software publishing pay towards the high end of the scale as well, averaging between $100,000 and $123,000.
For comparison, HR salaries can top out at over $200,000 and entry level coordinators can expect to bring in around $50,000.
What are the worst paid consumer service jobs?
The lowest paid service sector roles pay between $20,000 and $30,000 annually and tend to be in food services.
These include roles working at sports centers and gyms, tending snack and other non-alcoholic bars, working at bowling centers, hobby and toy stores, amusement parks, arcades, and at laundries.
The leisure and hospitality industries overall average a wage just short of $28,000 annually.
