Silicon Valley Girl: AI, Tech and Career Growth
Silicon Valley Girl: AI, Tech and Career Growth

TOP 10 Highest-Paying Jobs for the next 10 years (and 5 jobs that have NO future)

September 29, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

A surprising number from the Bureau of Labor Statistics opens the episode: more than 750,000 office and administrative support jobs are projected to disappear from the U.S. economy by 2035. At the same time, some professions are expected to grow by more than 40 percent. The host of Silicon Valley Girl argues that the conventional wisdom about AI destroying jobs is misleading, and that the real story is more nuanced—and more useful for anyone planning a career.

The key distinction: AI exposure is not job replacement

The list of the ten highest-paying, fastest-growing jobs through 2035 was built by combining Bureau of Labor Statistics growth projections with a measure called "AI exposure," which scores how much of the work inside a job AI could potentially do or help with. The surprising finding: of the 206 occupations with the highest AI exposure, 141—68 percent—are still projected to grow. High AI exposure does not mean a profession is disappearing. It mostly means the work is changing. AI augments certain tasks inside a job, but that is not the same thing as replacement risk.

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (01:00) **The Big Picture: Growth vs. Decline** - The host introduces the core tension: while 750,000+ office jobs are projected to disappear by 2035, some professions will grow by over 40%. The goal is to identify where demand is rising, what it pays, and how to get in.
  • 2 (02:58) **#10: Management Analysts** - The job that should be shrinking (very high AI exposure) is instead projected to grow, adding 109,000 jobs. These are consultants who help companies restructure around AI.
  • 3 (03:55) **#9: Health Specialties Teachers** - The host calls this the "smartest bet in the data set" that nobody puts on these lists. These are the people who train the exploding healthcare workforce.
  • 4 (04:42) **#8: Construction Managers** - This job leaves the "laptop economy" entirely. They run job sites, managing budgets, schedules, and subcontractors, with 55,000 new jobs and nearly 50,000 openings per year.
  • 5 (05:40) **#7: Data Scientists** - This is the third fastest-growing occupation in America, projected to grow 34.6%. The host explains how AI, which can write code and run analysis, actually made this job more valuable.
  • 6 (06:44) **A Crucial Mechanism: Software Engineering** - The host uses software engineering as the prime example of how AI affects a profession. Despite being the most affected by AI, job openings are up, not down.
  • 7 (07:30) **#6: Medical and Health Services Managers** - These are the people who run clinics, hospital departments, and nursing facilities. The job is growing 24.2%, adding 155,000 new jobs, and only requires a bachelor's degree.

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Guests on this episode

Andrew Ng Jensen Huang

Show Notes

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects which jobs will grow through 2035, and it rated 831 occupations by how much of the work AI can do or help with. I went through the data to find the careers where demand is growing, what they pay, and what it takes to get in.We rank 10 growing careers by median salary, from management analysts at $101,860 to computer and information systems managers at $175,140. You'll see why nurse practitioners are the fastest-growing occupation in the country, why software developers are still projected to add 174,700 jobs, and which six-figure healthcare job sits in the lowest AI exposure group. Then we look at the five occupations shrinking fastest and what they have in common.At the end, I show you a simple exercise from Stanford economist Erik Brynjolfsson. Split your last two weeks of work into define, execute and evaluate. Pick one repetitive task, try it with AI, and check the result. Then decide what responsibility you want to grow into with the time you get back.📌 FREE: my 20-minute AI agent setup — no code needed. Subscribe to Future Proof for the free guide →https://siliconvalleygirl.beehiiv.com/p/your-first-autonomous-agent-in-20-min-5429?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=futureproof-sub&utm_content=first-agent&utm_term=10professions 🎧 *Full conversation with Erik Brynjolfsson:* https://open.spotify.com/episode/3lyMQ1Qg7ybNJIgAmAzq97?si=8JYKTMIxS_aKYidy2AfcZw


*Sources:*BLS Employment Projections 2025–2035: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.nr0.htmBLS AI exposure categories: https://www.bls.gov/emp/publications/ai-exposure-categories.htm*Links:*📩 7 skills that get you promoted —⁠https://siliconvalleygirl.beehiiv.com/p/7-skills-that-make-you-irreplaceable-adc6?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=futureproof-sub&utm_content=7-skills ⁠

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