2021 saw a shift in how many nonprofits operated in order to stay afloat. Some of the biggest trends of this year were an increased demand for health and community services, a renewed green mentality, and new climate concerns, digital-first event strategies and a mobile first approach for nonprofits to connect with potential donors and like-minded individuals that can help champion their mission. Towards the end of 2021, Healthcare job growth reversed for the first time in many years. This is attributed both to vaccine mandates and the decline in some COVID centered jobs and programs being changed, pivoted, or demand change for vaccine and direct service roles.
Gearing up for 2022, additional spending and program spending in environmental, conservation and science-based programs have been rapidly increasing as organizational opportunities in these organizations continue to climb. Also, health job growth has been in flux as the demand for health services rapidly changed with the scaling of COVID variants and global impacts remain. We expect this trend to continue to grow as the world grapples with the pandemic, and the need to be greener and have less detrimental impacts on the earth and global warming. Job growth in clean energy and in reaction to federal spending is also expected. As is continued need and demand for in-home health-based programs for an aging baby boomer generation that is less interested in utilizing large retirement and health facilities.
In 2021 frontline nonprofit’s saw a drastic increase in the program needs they provide, other non-essential nonprofits experienced a drop in demand and/or legislation impacts for many in-person programs such as in education, the shift to virtual and remote meetings, events, and work throughout the sector as a whole continued to open new positions nationally and brought more for profit technical and service-based candidates into the nonprofit sector to fill the gaps in remote work.
There has also been a significant demand increase for technical professionals in the sectors as nonprofits as a whole have moved to remote working and more and more organizations needing to shift into deepening their capacity for online fundraising and are also settling into the demand of workers to have more remote flexibility. The modern worker and expectation more often is to be able to work for a employer who provides remote flexibility – and more so is becoming the norm to need to offer remote working options to hold onto employees. Inflation and the need to raise salaries have also been increasing in the nonprofit sector for social services, foundations, educational institutions, unions, associations, and other nonprofit employers.
Skills in the sector that are most currently in demand include essential health and medical care experience, tech support, database administration, online fundraising and marketing professionals, and front-line positions such as case managers, counselors and staff willing to work in-person for essential programs. Looking ahead to 2022, individuals who want to work within the nonprofit field need to be fully equipped to leverage a combination of tools. Having the ability to quickly pivot as well as a solid understanding of online tools for marketing, project management, web design, blogging, social media and online fundraising platforms continue to be extremely important for a nonprofit’s success.
Nonprofit Job Growth Will Continue to Increase in The Sector in 2022 But Recovery Is Taking Time
In the nonprofit sector shed jobs in September 2021, which reflected a stall in the economic growth for the sector. The Center for Civil Society Studies (CCSS) at Johns Hopkins University recently adjusted their prediction that the sector will not fully recover from pre-pandemic levels until Oct of 2022. Nonprofit since December of 2020 had been growing steadily. Between June and August of 2020, a majority of the 1.64 million lost nonprofit jobs were recovered. The total gain was 40.6% increase.
Prior to the pandemic between 2007 and 2016 nonprofit job growth outpaced for-profit employment growth by 12 percent. The nonprofit sector is a true economic engine for the United States with over 1,298,348 public charities with more than 12 million employees and growing! Long term there is considerable opportunity for career employment in the sector.
To learn more about this topic we invite you to also read:
Nonprofit Development Trends in Hiring and Recruitment
Nonprofit Jobs: A Check List For How To Find Work In The Nonprofit Sector
Nonprofit Hiring Trends and The National Nonprofit Employment Market
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