PayScale CEO Weighs In On Remote Work And Growth Trends – Including Demand For RV Techs

Scott Torrey, PayScale CEO joins the Yahoo Finance Live panel to discuss top jobs for 2020, wage growth trends and what employees need to keep in mind for 2021.

SCOTT TORREY: Thanks, Zack. Thanks for having me on, and I'm excited to share the PayScale data. And it would be remiss of me not to thank the millions of people that come to our website to share this data to make it possible. And the data is really illustrative of the year that we've just had, and Dickens was right. It's the best of times and the worst of times out there. We're certainly seeing huge demand in areas like personal shopping, in health screeners, the things you see every day. But you might not know that the RV technician is in extreme demand with wages up and demand over 100% in this current environment.

AKIKO FUJITA: That is not what I would have guessed, Scott, that is a huge boost. One of the things we've talked about is just this push to work from home, and this is something you could argue in the tech sector that was already underway. How do you think, though, this shift that we have seen over the last year, how has that changed the types of jobs that are coming to market? And then from the side of those who are looking for jobs, how does that open up the market, especially when you don't have to be where the headquarters is based?

SCOTT TORREY: Yeah, Akiko, that's a great question, and it's exactly the core of what most of the CEOs I talked to are really having to think about. As we looked at the new normal, they're having to make decisions about the culture they want to create. Do I want to go 100% back in the office, do I want to stay 100% remote, or am I going to come up with a hybrid type environment? And unquestionably it will be one of the bigger decisions they make, because it's where the talent is going to want to differentiate. Because what people have come to realize, and I've certainly experienced with our company, is people have become really effective at being remote, and not everybody wants to go back to 100% back in the office.

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SCOTT TORREY: So I'm going to tell you a personal story that was actually touched me. I took my father in to see the doctor, and we were sitting with the nurse, and the nurse shared with me that she had proactively had her employer come to her and say, we're going to give you this market adjustment, because we recognize how in demand you are. And the good news was they were a customer of ours, and so I got to kind of talk to her about that. But it's unquestionable that health care is one of the highest demand areas we're seeing those wages increase.

But the other interesting data in there is that not only is the stress of those health care workers high, but also their satisfaction. And so over 70% of the health care workers that took the survey indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the impact they're having, so it's fantastic to see not only their wages going up to reflect the impact they're having, but that they're also feeling personally rewarded with what they're doing, and they're doing a heck of a job out there on the front lines.

AKIKO FUJITA: And Scott, now you've got me thinking about the RV technician, because you mentioned some of these jobs that may have been overlooked a bit that you are seeing come to market. What are some of the other jobs out there that you think are, you know, maybe some people may not have thought of that have really thrived during this pandemic? Because there's no question there's a lot of job seekers out there that are trying to figure out how do I match my skill set to the jobs that are available?

SCOTT TORREY: Right. Well, first of all, we invite them all to come to PayScale.com. We have a skills inventory, and they can figure out exactly what's hot both wages and skills. But to your specific question, there's a couple of things that are out there that are in real demand. Operations and logistics, this change we've had to the burst of e-commerce and being able to get all of your packages delivered real time to your home has created this real demand for operations and logistics support. But from a technology perspective, cloud computing and the pivot to cloud computing, and all of those that are designing, the UX designers and those that are really creating a differentiated experience for how we use technology to get all the things we need to get done, are in high demand. And that's a continuation, but it's just almost been accelerated through the COVID period.

Check out the full interview on Yahoo Finance here.

RV techs are gaining high recognition around the country. Check out where techs landed on the 20 Fastest Growing Jobs In 2020 list featured on CNBC here!