Occupations With Lowest Supply of Workers Globally (2025)

Tired of battling for the same old jobs with thousands of other applicants? Dreaming of a career where your skills are so valuable, companies practically beg you to work for them? And maybe, just maybe, you’d like that career to take you around the world?

Well, buckle up, because the future of work is here, and it’s looking pretty darn exciting. In 2025, the global job market is playing by a whole new set of rules. Forget overcrowded fields – we’re talking about niche professions with fewer than 1,000 specialists worldwide. That’s right, you could be one of a handful of experts with skills so hot, you can practically write your own ticket!

Think AI whisperers who keep robots in check, digital detectives outsmarting cybercriminals, or maybe even the masterminds behind self-driving cars. These aren’t jobs of the future – they’re here, and they’re screaming for talent.

This blog post is your VIP pass to the world’s most exclusive professions. We’ll reveal the skills in such high demand that companies are willing to pay top dollar (and relocate you!) to snag the best talent. So, ditch the boring job hunt and get ready to discover a career path that’s not just fulfilling, but downright exhilarating. Your global adventure starts now!

List of High Demand Occupations With Few Professionals Available

Following are some of the most high demand occupations that have very few professionals applying for the positions globally in 2025:

1# AI Ethics Specialists

• • Professionals Globally: ~500–1,000
  • Average Salary: $120,000–$180,000 per year
  • Why They Are Rare: This emerging role requires expertise in ethics, philosophy, and artificial intelligence to tackle issues like bias, accountability, and regulatory compliance.
  • Future Demand: With growing AI adoption and regulatory pressures, the demand for AI ethics specialists is expected to triple by 2030.

2# AI Explain-ability Engineers

• • Professionals Globally: ~1,000–1,500
  • Average Salary: $110,000–$150,000 per year
  • Why They Are Rare: These engineers make AI models interpretable and transparent, a critical role driven by regulations such as the EU’s AI Act.
  • Future Demand: Increasingly vital as AI systems become integral to decision-making across industries.

3# AI Prompt Engineers

• • Professionals Globally: ~800–1,200
  • Average Salary: $150,000–$250,000 per year
  • Why They Are Rare: As generative AI tools like ChatGPT rise, these professionals design effective prompts for optimized outputs. The field is new, and most professionals are self-taught.
  • Future Demand: Expected to plateau once generative AI matures, but still a niche with high value.

4# AI Alignment Researchers

• • Professionals Globally: ~400–700
  • Average Salary: $120,000–$200,000 per year
  • Why They Are Rare: Researchers ensure AI aligns with human values and goals, a cutting-edge field supported by organizations like OpenAI and DeepMind.
  • Future Demand: Critical for mitigating risks associated with advanced AI; demand could triple by 2030.

5# Quantum Machine Learning Scientists

• • Professionals Globally: ~300–500
  • Average Salary: $150,000–$300,000 per year
  • Why They Are Rare: Combining expertise in quantum computing and machine learning, this role is highly academic and specialized.
  • Future Demand: Projected to grow by 300% as quantum computing gains traction in AI applications.

6# Autonomous Vehicle AI Engineers

• • Professionals Globally: ~1,500–2,000
  • Average Salary: $140,000–$220,000 per year
  • Why They Are Rare: Developing self-driving technologies requires deep expertise in robotics, computer vision, and machine learning.
  • Future Demand: Growing as autonomous vehicles move closer to mainstream adoption.

7# Synthetic Data Specialists

• • Professionals Globally: ~500–1,000
  • Average Salary: $110,000–$160,000 per year
  • Why They Are Rare: These experts generate synthetic datasets for training AI models, crucial for privacy and data scarcity solutions.
  • Future Demand: Increasing as AI models require larger, more diverse training data.

8# AI Operations Engineers (MLOps Specialists)

• • Professionals Globally: ~3,000–5,000
  • Average Salary: $130,000–$190,000 per year
  • Why They Are Rare: These specialists focus on deploying, monitoring, and scaling AI models in production environments, requiring both software engineering and machine learning expertise.
  • Future Demand: Expected to grow tenfold as more companies deploy AI solutions.

9# AI-Driven Cybersecurity Experts

• • Professionals Globally: ~1,500–2,500
  • Average Salary: $140,000–$220,000 per year
  • Why They Are Rare: Combining machine learning and cybersecurity knowledge, these experts identify and mitigate cyber threats.
  • Future Demand: Increasing with the rise of AI-enabled cyberattacks.

10# AI Product Managers

• • Professionals Globally: ~2,000–4,000
  • Average Salary: $120,000–$180,000 per year
  • Why They Are Rare: Requires a unique combination of technical expertise, business acumen, and product management skills.
  • Future Demand: Growing rapidly as AI integration becomes a priority across industries.

List of Traditional Occupations With Few Professionals Available

And following are the top 5 traditional occupations that have very high demand globally but only few qualified professionals are available to fill these open positions in 2025:

1# Watch and Clock Repairers

• • Professionals Globally: ~800–1,000
  • Average Salary: $40,000–$60,000 per year
  • Why They Are Rare: Declining demand for traditional timepieces and limited training opportunities.

2# Typewriter Repair Technicians

• • Professionals Globally: ~500–800
  • Average Salary: $30,000–$50,000 per year
  • Why They Are Rare: The obsolescence of typewriters has reduced the need for this profession.

3# Wood Patternmakers

• • Professionals Globally: ~210 in the U.S.; ~500 globally
  • Average Salary: $50,000–$70,000 per year
  • Why They Are Rare: Advanced woodworking skills and precision are required, and demand has declined with industrial automation.

4# Wood Model Makers

• • Professionals Globally: ~340 in the U.S.; ~1,000 globally
  • Average Salary: $60,000–$80,000 per year
  • Why They Are Rare: Niche role for architectural and industrial mock-ups, limited by modern technology alternatives.

5# Farm Labor Contractors

• • Professionals Globally: ~800 in the U.S.; ~1,500 globally
  • Average Salary: $40,000–$60,000 per year
  • Why They Are Rare: Specialized knowledge of agricultural labor and regulations is required.

References

• https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/understanding-americas-labor-shortage-the-most-impacted-industries
• https://www.statista.com/topics/11864/labor-and-skills-shortages-in-europe/
• https://www.intereconomics.eu/contents/year/2024/number/3/article/labor-shortages-what-is-the-problem.html
• https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/matching-skills/all-instruments/list-professions-worker-shortages
• https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/commission-report-finds-labour-and-skills-shortages-persist-and-looks-possible-ways-tackle-them-2023-07-06_en.