Much has changed already this year, including a new (old) president in office in the U.S., and catastrophic fires wiping out whole neighborhoods in Los Angeles. But when it comes to work, many people say the new year feels a lot like the old one. In a recent poll of professionals on Glassdoor, almost 65% of respondents reported feeling "stuck" in their current roles. Men felt even more mired in going-nowhere careers than women. A change for you this year might be a new career.
Opportunities abound, particularly in the areas of climate change, aging population and tech. But what do these new roles look like, and how do you find one? Here are three people who capitalised on global trends to reinvigorate their careers.
After nearly three decades working in senior-level roles at P&G, L'Oreal and other firms, Sonsoles Gonzalez noticed a lack of hair care products designed for older women. She tapped into the longevity economy to create a new business. In 2019, at age 52, she launched Better Not Younger, a holistic hair care brand targeting women with aging hair -- who don't necessarily want to cut it short like the Golden Girls.
The longevity economy is a term that refers to the economic contributions of people aged 50 years and older -- what they produce and what they spend. The longevity economy is growing, due to our aging population, creating new opportunities with it. As this post from Brookings Institute puts it, "If we look at the change in age distribution between now and 2040 -- when the world will have added 1 billion more people -- we will see no change in the number of children, but an additional 800 million people in the 50+ age group."
The AARP and Oxford Economics' Longevity Economy report noted that the spending power of the 50+ set reached $7.6 trillion by 2015 in the US alone. Older people are looking for products and services tailored to them, particularly in healthcare, financial services, travel & leisure -- and consumer products.
As Gonzalez told Forbes, "I knew from my time running the global Pantene business that hair is one of the most important things that factor into how women feel about themselves. . . The entire Better Not Younger team is passionate about changing the narrative around women & aging in society to get to a more inclusive definition of beauty."
Gonzalez is one of a slew of professionals striking out on their own in the longevity economy. Not everyone wants to start a business. Better Not Younger and products like it also create roles for scientists, packagers, marketers and designers in the longevity economy. Gonzales said that an MIT chemist developed the formulas for her line, "based on their in-depth understanding of the biology of aging hair and the proven ability of those combinations of ingredients to address the various causes and conditions of aging hair."
Our aging population means leaders should be thinking creatively about how to reach older adults, both as customers and employees. If you're a leader, adapting roles to an aging workforce is increasingly important. As an article that was part of the 2024 World Economic Forum annual meeting put it, "Employers need to explore ways of reskilling employees, some of whom will be at later stages in their careers." Successfully doing this will require a change in workplace culture for older workers."
While climate change is wreaking havoc around the planet -- including some 12,000 structures burned down in this month's explosion of wildfires in urban Los Angeles, it is also creating an urgent need for people to address the crisis. Daniel Hinerfeld, a former National Public Radio reporter, found himself increasingly frustrated to be reporting about public lands in the U.S. being handed over to the fossil fuel industry. He realized that he wanted to do something about it, ideally by switching industries and going from an impartial journalist reporting on climate change to an advocate actively working to stop it.
But how would he make the transition? He decided to look for opportunities at advocacy organizations he'd written about, including the Natural Resources Defense Council. "They were often the ones in the vanguard," he says. "They had the top lawyers and experts. If you study environmental law, many of the cases are titled 'NRDC v. . .' and then it's, fill in the blank: Chevron or Mallinckrodt Chemical or EPA."
Hinerfeld reached out to a lawyer he knew at NRDC, and shared his interest in moving into climate advocacy. This led to a job as press secretary for NRDC -- and then an evolving roster of new roles. "NRDC has given me the freedom and support to reinvent my career several times," he says. He went from press secretary to producing multimedia pieces, to launching a documentary film unit. "We made films about little-known but globally important environmental problems that we used to help change policy. We won two Emmy Awards, and I had the opportunity to collaborate with amazingly talented people, including prominent artists who are also committed activists, like Robert Redford, Sigourney Weaver and Rachel McAdams."
Most recently, Hinerfeld co-founded a program at NRDC called Rewrite the Future that partners with Hollywood professionals to tell the story of climate change. "We work with the major studios, the creative guilds, the Television Academy, the Sustainable Entertainment Alliance and other organizations to support content that reflects our environmental crisis, he says. "We have an amazing team and I absolutely love what I do."
While it may seem like "climate warrior" is primarily a role held by scientists, lawyers or government workers, communications professionals are critical players. "The climate crisis is largely a communications crisis," says Hinerfeld. "I feel there's nothing more effective I could be doing now to help ensure a habitable future for my daughters and their generation. That's gratifying."
New Career 3: Becoming a Drone Pilot
Those buzzing drones you might see hovering over a neighborhood baseball game or a surf beach are not just for fun; they are increasingly becoming an integral part of many businesses. The global market for commercial drones was valued at $20.8 billion in 2021. That number is expected to balloon to $1.2 trillion by 2030, as Flying magazine reports, due to their use in an ever-expanding number of fields, "From precision agriculture to construction and infrastructure inspections, the use-case scenarios for UAVs continues to grow." The growth points to another sky-high area of opportunity: employment. After all, someone has to operate and manage all those drones.
As the drone trainer organization DARTDrones put it, "Aerial photography and videography account for a significant slice of the commercial market, representing approximately 34% of drone-based services. Meanwhile, the agricultural drone sector is expected to expand at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 22.94% from 2022 to 2028, showcasing the increasing reliance on UAV technology for efficient farming practices."
Because this is still a new field, some people may be able to shift to operating drones as part of their existing roles -- if they are nimble and seize the opportunity. For Taylor Mitcham, becoming a professional commercial drone pilot wasn't exactly part of a long-range plan. She was working for a construction contractor when the company decided it needed an innovative way to capture the stages of various construction projects. Drone video seemed like the perfect solution.
"I put in a proposal about what I think we should have, drone-wise, how many drones I think we should have," Mitcham explains in a YouTube video she made for people seeking more information on the field. The company gave her a credit card and told her to go shopping. Mitcham bought three DJI Phantom 3 drones, and suddenly found herself as the company's first drone operator. "We flew those on all six of the job sites that I was working on. Basically, I learned how to fly and how to train people all in the same week."
She wound up retroactively figuring out the company's insurance needs and writing up protocols and pre-flight checklists. When that job ended, she thought her drone pilot career was over, but the demand for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) skyrocketed in other fields. She bought her own drone and now, with her "Part 107" license, has worked as a professional drone pilot for all kinds of organizations, in a variety of situations such as storm response work, including four hurricanes, infrastructure inspection, surveying and mapping projects, and augmented reality. She has worked for firms and for herself, growing her side hustle into her full-time career.
To become a drone operator in the U.S., you have to earn a remote pilot certification from the FAA, which involves taking the "Part 107" exam. (Other countries have similar requirements.) You can use the FAA"s study guide, or sign up for an online course through a number of vendors, such as Altitude University. You'll find job listings on job boards and through many drone certification companies. "There are way more resources and way more opportunities now to get into UAS and drones and become a drone pilot, if that's something you want to do," says Mitcham.
Reinventing or reinvigorating your work is a great way to ensure your own career longevity and keep up your energy. This is a great time to explore new career options!