As the COVID pandemic finally has an end in sight, the economy will have to once again shift back to the “old normal” after spending the last year adjusting to a world locked inside due to stay-at-home orders related to the virus.
Though the negative things related to the pandemic certainly outnumber the positives, a few trends in commerce that were forced by legislation actually wound up being beneficial for many companies and individuals.
One of these trends was a surprising success rate related to remote work. Remote work, of course, means less money spent on rent and resources for businesses, and for many employees, it also means higher worker satisfaction.
Remote work is expected to continue after the pandemic for those reasons, and others, including advancements in technology allowing for the remote office to seem more like the brick-and-mortar ones.
With that, an even larger dependence on tech-centric workers and computer engineers has already begun, like communications, data sharing and utilization, security, and much more revolve around computer engineering and are essential for remote companies.
Here is a look at 3 fields within computer science that are expected to remain very competitive for the foreseeable future.
1. Web Developers
Web development is a pretty vast term, and involves content creators, editors, and designers, but the brain that makes all those pieces work is the computer engineer on the web development team, and as e-commerce continues to grow, so does the demand for these professionals
Individuals who like being as creative as they are practical may be interested in this sect of computer science, and job security is generally pretty good as these websites need to be constantly updated to perform high in search engine optimization.
Engineers who work with web development generally need to be experts in a few different coding languages, and always willing to learn more as the field continues to evolve.
Creativity and the ability to put oneself in a layperson’s shoes are both great intangible traits for aspiring computer engineers working in web development.
2. Artificial Intelligence
The artificial intelligence industry was booming long before the COVID pandemic, and every single aspect of the economy is discovering ways to utilize AI to make their processes more efficient.
With that, money for engineers in the AI realm is very good, and many opportunities exist in research and development.
Machine learning is one step further with artificial intelligence, and as the name would suggest, it is the process by which machines are programmed to program themselves.
A practical example would be when Amazon offers you “similar products” based on data related to other individuals who were searching for similar products.
Pursuing a career in machine learning engineering means a lot of work, but also a lot of opportunities and perks.
3. Video Game Development
In 2020, Netflix’s biggest competitor for at-home screen time use was Fortnite, a video game franchise with more than 350 million players worldwide.
Trends and turnover in video games tend to be very rapid, and that may not bode well for individuals who are attached to their projects once they are released.
However, for individuals who want to make a lot of money and program constantly, the video game world offers unique opportunities, great pay, and generally a very fun work atmosphere.
Lateral Moves
Though there are almost countless coding languages, moving laterally in the world of computer engineering is a common thing, and means even more job security for those willing to learn a new language.
System security is another very popular field, in addition to the three listed here, but all of them share a baseline knowledge, and that knowledge will transfer well if you happen to find yourself bored or unfulfilled in one aspect of computer science.
