Which jobs will have the most openings in the coming years, and how exposed are they to generative AI? This page ranks the 40 occupations with the most projected openings a year among those covered in our will AI take my job? series, using US Bureau of Labor Statistics figures for 2025 to 2035, next to the AI exposure score from the International Labour Organization's 2025 index.
The short answer: most of the jobs with the most openings are hands-on service, care, transport and retail work, while 16 of the 40 sit in the ILO's exposed gradients, mostly office, clerical, sales and analyst work. Openings are not the same as growth: 12 of the 40 are projected to shrink, yet each still expects tens of thousands of openings a year or more, mostly to replace people who retire or change jobs.
How to read this page
Openings are the BLS projection of the average number of job openings each year from 2025 to 2035. They include new jobs from growth and, much more often, jobs freed up when workers leave the occupation, so even a declining occupation can have many openings (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025 to 2035 edition). The figures are those cited on each of our job pages, and each occupation links to its BLS profile. Projections are estimates and can change.
The International Labour Organization scores occupations' tasks from 0 (cannot be automated with generative AI) to 1 (could be done without a human operator), and groups them into gradients from 1 to 4, with 4 the most exposed; below them sit minimal exposure and not exposed (ILO Working Paper 140, 2025).
The exposure column shows the main ILO occupation used on our guide for that job. Where one BLS occupation is covered by more than one of our guides, the first is shown. ILO occupations and BLS occupations do not match one to one, so read the score as a guide to the kind of work, not an exact measure.
The 40 occupations with the most openings a year
Shrinking, but still hiring
These 12 occupations are projected to decline from 2025 to 2035, yet still expect many openings a year: cashiers (521,300), secretaries and administrative assistants (314,400), customer service representatives (289,500), general office clerks (249,000), childcare workers (150,300), bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks (144,100), food preparation workers (135,700), information clerks (125,600), agricultural workers (111,500), receptionists (105,100), material recording clerks (98,600), financial clerks (88,000). Several of them are office and clerical jobs where the BLS points to automation and software as a reason for the decline, and where the ILO finds high generative AI exposure. For a worker, a shrinking occupation can still offer a way in, but it is worth planning the next step.
Large and growing
24 of the 40 are projected to grow and 4 to stay about level. The biggest growers by openings are mostly care and service work with little generative AI exposure, such as home health and personal care aides, nursing assistants and registered nurses. See fastest-growing jobs and their AI exposure for growth in percentage terms.
What this means for workers
- Openings measure turnover as well as growth: a job with many openings is easier to enter, but that does not mean it is growing.
- Exposure is about tasks: the ILO score measures how much of the work generative AI could take on, not whether jobs will disappear.
- Checking the output: in exposed jobs, reviewing what AI produces becomes part of the work, which NIST calls confabulation (NIST AI 600-1). See checking AI output.
See also jobs most exposed to AI, AI exposure by job field and AI exposure by education level and AI exposure by pay. This page is general information, not career advice.
Questions and answers
Which jobs have the most openings?
In our series, food and beverage serving and related workers lead with about 1,078,500 openings a year, followed by hand laborers and material movers and home health aides and personal care aides, according to BLS projections for 2025 to 2035.
Can a declining job still have many openings?
Yes. Openings include jobs freed up when workers leave. Cashiers, for example, are projected to decline 6 percent but still expect about 521,300 openings a year.
Are the jobs with the most openings exposed to AI?
Most are not: 24 of the 40 are rated minimal exposure or not exposed, mostly hands-on service, care and transport work. The 16 exposed ones are mostly office, clerical, sales and analyst jobs.
Where do the figures come from?
Openings and outlook are from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025 to 2035 edition. Exposure scores are from ILO Working Paper 140 (2025).