Degrees Least and Most Impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic

When considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on various sectors of the economy, it’s clear that some areas held their own while others languished. In early 2020, public-facing roles seemingly vanished, while computer-based careers easily adapted to mandatory stay-at-home orders. Nonetheless, the American workforce saw overall unemployment rates rise by nearly 15 percentage points between March and April of 2020.

As a result, some academic paths and resultant careers have proven more pandemic-proof than others. While we don’t suggest prospective students should choose their major based solely on the ramifications of a once-in-a-century pandemic, it’s worth considering that some degrees can lead to more adaptable, resilient careers.

It’s not all bad economic news coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some careers and industries continue to grow, pivoting to help us adapt to a new way of life. As working from home became the norm for many workers, professionals in several fields increased their reliance on technology to complete tasks. As a result, careers associated with the following degrees rebounded quickly and showed relatively low unemployment rates.

The pandemic also sheds light on occupations that we view as essential. Industries like healthcare and education continued to provide vital services, reimagining day-to-day work to best serve communities. Below, we highlight five resilient degrees that can lead to adaptable, in-demand careers.

Computer and Information Sciences | Public Administration | Healthcare | Finance | Education

Many computer and information sciences professionals didn’t feel much of a negative impact on their day-to-day work, especially when considering how adept the field can be at allowing folks to work from home.

Employment data also underscores the pandemic-proof nature of this field. According to the monthly employment situation report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in April 2020, the computer systems design and related services industries only lost about 4% of its jobs between March and April of 2020. Additionally, this sector’s unemployment rate didn’t surpass 10%, while many other areas hemorrhaged jobs. After the initial economic shock of the pandemic in early 2020, this field displayed resilience and demonstrated that it is needed across industries.

A growing and resilient field, network and computer systems administrators earned a median salary of almost $85,000 annually as of May 2020.

No single industry has proven more essential during the pandemic than healthcare. Whether you’re interested in health education, nursing, or healthcare management, these careers are vital to the functioning of an effective healthcare system.

Employment data also bears out the consequential nature of the healthcare industry during the COVID-19 era. While the field lost about 9% of its jobs (almost 1.5 million positions) between March and April of 2020, the majority of these — roughly 1 million jobs — returned to the workforce by April 2021.

Nursing graduates and other essential workers in healthcare can expect to enter a growing field, and RNs earned a median salary exceeding $75,000 per year as of May 2020.

The day-to-day work of many educators continues to look considerably different today than in pre-pandemic times, but education professionals in various settings quickly pivoted to ensure students received the best possible experience. The pandemic also highlighted the inherent advantages of online degree programs. Prospective students interested in the field of education have many opportunities to secure their teaching degree online.

Between March and April of 2020, the number of workers employed in educational services was reduced by about 12%. Fortunately, this field has slowly recovered and should continue to do so as schools reopen. Education professionals typically make salaries that are well above the national average for all occupations. For example, BLS data shows that high school teachers earn a median annual salary of about $63,000 (as of May 2020).

The hospitality industry took on serious financial and job losses during the pandemic. As hotels and resorts went from full to empty seemingly overnight, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed cracks in the resilience of a typically profitable industry.

As an example, between March and April 2020, accommodation services lost over 41% of its workforce. While the industry has slowly recovered in recent months, as of April 2021, the field is still down more than 500,000 positions compared to pre-pandemic employment.

The industry should continue to slowly rebound, and degrees like hospitality management should regain much of their value. This field can be fairly lucrative. For example, lodging managers earned a median salary of over $56,000 per year as of May 2020.

Of all the sectors within the healthcare industry, the dentistry field was hit the hardest by the pandemic. As a matter of practicality early on in the pandemic, healthcare as an overall field shifted focus away from elective procedures to ensure adequate staffing and space for coronavirus patients. As most dental work is elective and requires intimately close quarters between dental patients and workers, dental jobs declined dramatically.

Considering that nearly nine out of 10 dentist offices reported staffing cuts during the first months of the pandemic, it’s no surprise that dentistry-related jobs contracted significantly — by more than 52% between March and April of 2020. These dramatic job losses were much higher than the healthcare field overall, which saw jobs decrease by about 9% over this time.

Even though dental careers, like many professions, aren’t immune to the effects of a pandemic, dentists provide what many consider an essential healthcare service (under normal circumstances). When not in the midst of a pandemic, dentistry school grads enter an in-demand field, and dentists earned a median salary exceeding $164,000 annually as of May 2020.

Although it’s worthwhile to consider future job options and earning potential when weighing academic options, you should also think about your talents and interests when choosing a college major. While some degrees may prepare you for more pandemic-proof careers than others, earning any postsecondary degree can lead to increased job opportunities and higher wages, regardless of your major.

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