How many jobs are available in consumer services?
Consumer services are an important part of the economy. There's a lot of growth in this field, and it's expected to continue for years to come.
In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) expects consumer services jobs to increase by 14% in the years between 2016 and 2026.
So to put it simply, consumer services is a growing and very promising career field with a lot of jobs and future opportunities for new candidates.
But how many jobs are available in consumer services? How many people will be needed? What types of jobs exist? Are there any trends that could affect the job market? This article will answer all those questions and more about this important industry!
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What is the Role of Consumer Services?
The core role of consumer services is to address simple issues that customers may have.
They provide reactive support and respond when problems arise out of the blue. Consumer Service acts as your first line of defense and handles as many issues as possible.
These kinds of fields fit into the Pareto principle or the 20/80 rule. This shows that 20% of the work produces 80% of the results.
Conversely, 80% of the work yields 20% of the results. Consumer services are the first part of a company that sorts out 80% of simple concerns before escalating to managers and experts!
Advantages of the Consumer Services Sector
- There are many employment opportunities out there!
- Consumer service is a great field for people who love to interact with people, have communication skills, and also love to solve problems quickly.
- Retail and customer service positions offer opportunities to interact with people on a daily basis.
- A career in consumer service is both challenging and rewarding (wage, career advancement).
- There are opportunities to learn new things, develop new skills, and find the one you like the most!
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Disadvantages of Working in the Consumer Services Sector
Working in the consumer services sector is a great way to step into a business or start your own one.
On the other hand, of course, there are also some drawbacks that should be considered before pursuing a career in this field.
- Many positions in this field require working nights, weekends and holidays, making it difficult to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Consumer services offer low wages in general if you are doing a simple job description.
- Many entry-level positions in this field start at minimum wage or slightly higher. Working in consumer service can be stressful as you meet different customers every day.
What companies are in the consumer services field?
The consumer services sector includes companies that provide travel, hospitality, leisure and recreation, personal care and other services to consumers.
It's a huge field that encompasses many retail businesses as well as other industries such as restaurants and gyms.
While it is not easy to find exactly how many jobs are available in the consumer services field, because of its broad nature, there are data on how many people are employed by individual companies in this sector.
Some examples of these include:
- Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., which employs over 170K workers across its various brands (Zippia)
- Marriott International Inc., which has over 130K associates worldwide
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How many jobs are available in consumer services?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are around 119 thousand jobs available in consumer services only in the United States.
This is a growing field, with its growth rate predicted to increase radically and become one of the top five growing fields in the world.
How much do consumer services professionals earn per month?
The average salary of a consumer services specialist or professional is about 40k dollars per year.
Depending on the skill set of the consumer services professional, the yearly salary can range from 25k dollars up to 80k per year.
There are several reasons for that but these mainly include the experience of the consumer services specialist, their background and their education (consumer services specialists with a master degree or a bachelor degree with relevant experience) tend to earn more compared to consumer services specialists that have irrelevant experience.
A recent research on the qualifications of the consumer services specialists, shows that the professionals with a high level of education such as a bachelor and a master degree (or even a PhD) earn about 15% more compared to consumer services professionals. They had a basic level of education, and most of the times only a diploma from a high school.
Secondly, one of the main factors in almost all the cases is also the previous experience.
For consumer services specialists with 3-5 years of experience the salary was 20-30% more compared to junior consumer services agents.
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Where can I earn more as a consumer services specialist?
Recent research shows that consumer services professionals in very large cities and metropolitan areas, have a higher potential for a higher salary compared to consumer services specialists that live and work in smaller towns, villages or rural areas.
The main reason is the need as well as the low amount of payment that local businesses can offer to consumer services specialist.
Where can I find consumer services jobs?
There are several places where you can find those kinds of jobs.
Below we are sharing the list of the best job boards and platforms to help you find a job as a consumer services specialist:
- Loopcv (The first job search automation platform)
- Indeed (One of the most known job boards)
- Linkedin (A networking platform for professionals)
Growth and projections for new hires in these occupations.
Consumer services are expected to grow by 13 - 14 percent from 2016 to 2026. The number of employees in these occupations is projected to increase from 2.9 million to 3.3 million.
The following table provides estimated employment and job openings from 2016-2026 for consumer service related jobs:
- Consumer service representatives - 100K
- Financial services representatives - 80K
- Account manager - 800k
- Receptionist - 1.2 m
- Flight attendant - 1.1m
- Call center representative - 500k
- Insurance sales agents - 50K
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Explanation of the aforementioned jobs for consumer services is provided below:
1) Account manager
An account manager is one of the most common jobs in consumer services, especially with the rise of Software as a service businesses (SaaS).
Business account that generate a high amount of revenue most of the times require a dedicated go-to person to discuss and share their concerns or feedback. This is exactly the role of an account manager, serving as a dedicated person to support the business customers ensuring they are well served and will succeed long term.
The role of an account manager (in consumer services) is to get more revenue per customer over time by providing and up-selling services and providing more value to companies.
2) Call center / Customer representative
With the high rise of personalisation and consumer needs, support is one of the most important part of every business (either on the B2B or the B2C sector).
The goal of the call center and each customer representative is to help any customer perceive the value of the service, answer questions that might not be clear as well as collect feedback that is important for the product team in order to improve the product or service that is offered.
This role is one of the most important roles in the industry. Even if the sales team is in charge of bringing the customers, the call center and the customer representative teams are the most important teams in the consumer services industry.
They retain and make the consumers happy, ensuring the continuation of the business activity and the high satisfaction of the end customers.
A great sales CRM software like Refrens, has been proven to be quite effective in managing such sales activities hence ensuring consumer retention and increasing profit.
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Impact of automation and technological advancements on the job market
While automation and technological advancements are expected to have a huge impact on the job market, it's not necessarily a bad thing. While some jobs will be replaced by automation and others augmented by it, many new jobs will be created as well.
In addition to creating new kinds of jobs in their own right, technology also enables entirely new industries that weren't possible before.
For example, healthcare providers can now offer remote monitoring services that allow people with chronic illnesses or disabilities to receive care from home rather than having to travel back-and-forth between doctor visits every day.
This has opened up many new opportunities for healthcare professionals who specialize in providing remote monitoring services. A job category that didn't exist at all until recently!
How many jobs are available in finance consumer services?
There are thousands of jobs available in finance consumer services. The finance sector is ideal for foreigners in USA due to the high number of international companies as well as the high growth of the finance sector that pushes the consumer services on a high demand state.
There are around 119 thousand jobs available
By 2022, the number of job openings is expected to rise by a lot of thousands and employment will grow by another radical numbers.
They show healthcare as the largest industry with 1 in 10 jobs available and professional, scientific and technical services coming second with 1 in 16 jobs available. Administrative and support services are third at 1 in 20 jobs.
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Conclusion
The consumer services field is a great field to find work and start your professional career. With around 119 thousand jobs available and growth expected in the future, there are plenty of opportunities for you to find a job that fits your skills, interests and lifestyle.
Automation may be changing how some jobs are done, but it will not eliminate them all, which means there will still be plenty of opportunities for people who want to work in these industries!
Interested to learn more for consumer services? You can also read our article: