Payscale Identifies The Fastest Growing And Most At-Risk Jobs Heading Into 2026

(MENAFN- GlobeNewsWire - Nasdaq) Payscale's 2025 End of Year Top Jobs Report shows sharp wage spikes in technical roles and high quit intent across IT, healthcare, and design as employers brace for a more complex talent market

BOSTON, Dec. 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Payscale, the leading provider of compensation intelligence solutions, today released its 2025 End of Year Top Jobs Report, uncovering key trends shaping the labor market as we enter 2026. The report reveals the fastest-moving jobs by wage growth, as well as the jobs employees are most seeking to quit.

Development Operations (DevOps) Engineers are seeing the fastest overall wage growth at 12% year-over-year (YOY) with a median salary of $131,000. Information Technology (IT) Project Managers are most likely to quit. For HR leaders and compensation professionals who recruit and manage talent in these positions, these insights empower proactive market adjustments to retain top talent in increasingly critical business functions.

The top jobs include:

Rank	Top Jobs by Wage Growth	Median pay	YOY wage growth
1	Development Operations (DevOps) Engineer	$131,000	12%
2	Design Architect	$83,400	11%
3	Cyber Security Engineer	$118,000	10%
4	Film / Video Editor	$64,400	10%
5	Compliance Manager	$100,000	10%

The top 5 roles most at risk for turnover include:

Rank	Top Jobs that People Seek to Quit the Most in 2025	Median pay	Seek-to-quit rate
1	Project Manager, Information Technology (IT)	$109,000	64%
2	Nurse Assistant	$38,100	63%
3	Graphic Designer	$53,400	61%
4	Pharmacy Technician	$43,300	61%
5	Senior Financial Analyst	$96,800	60%

Jobs that are currently the most difficult to fill include:

Rank	Jobs with highest increase in time to fill	Median # of days to fill	YOY % diff
1	Speech Language Pathologist	28	22%
2	Counter / Rental Clerk	25	19%
3	Geophysicist	22.5	18%
4	Veterinarian	28	17%
5	Sales Engineering Manager	23	15%

The 2025 End of Year Top Jobs Report includes predictions that put into focus the strategic maturity that HR teams have prioritized in 2025, setting the stage for 2026 to be the year of inclusive and intentional growth. Organizations that thrive in the new year will be the ones who see talent strategy not just as a function of HR but as a cornerstone of competitive advantage - with rewards strategy taking center stage. From navigating the increasingly complex labor market to reacting to the industry-specific nuances of job hugging, HR leaders will require modern tools, access to up-to-date salary market data sources, and strategic processes to empower proactive salary structure adjustments.

Also in the report, Payscale experts share strategic insights to help HR leaders prepare for the road ahead - covering HR leadership, compensation strategy and technology, data, and compliance.

Lexi Clarke, Chief People Officer:“In 2026, HR leaders face a delicate balancing act: satisfying employee fairness demands while safeguarding organizational efficiency and culture.”

Ruth Thomas, Chief Compensation Strategist:“The next generation of the workforce will demand full transparency, defensible equity across roles and locations, and accessible explanations for compensation decisions.”

Peh Teh, Chief Product Officer:“The future is neither survey data nor AI, but integrated, contextualized intelligence that changes how decisions are made.”

Sara Hillenmeyer, VP of AI and Data Science:“In 2026, real-time benchmarking, embedded compliance guardrails, and orchestrated workflows will democratize decision-making across personas, enabling distributed teams to make transparent, consistent compensation calls at scale.”

Lulu Seikaly, Sr. Corporate Employment Counsel:“Future pay transparency will require defensible, precise salary ranges, full disclosure of pay structures, and equity-focused compliance across regions and industries.”

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About Payscale

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