To help support the state’s evolving workforce that’s been uprooted due to COVID-19, the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce’s (DEW) Labor Market Information (LMI) team is busy working to identify the top 29 Lifeboat jobs that can guide individuals to new employment opportunities and financial security. If you’ve never heard of a Lifeboat job, it’s a relatively new term coined to describe a position that can hold someone over until the economy recovers. However, in some cases, we believe these career pivots could lead to long term prospects.

The agency’s LMI staff pulled and analyzed data from more than 45,000, non-seasonally adjusted*, job postings in the state to identify which positions and industries were most relevant to South Carolina jobseekers and employers and should receive the spotlight. The bottom line is simple: Lifeboat jobs are out there, and they can lead to promising career paths.

For the next several weeks, DEW will be highlighting four to five lifeboat jobs each week that are readily available in the state. They have been identified as the most frequently posted positions in South Carolina, as of right now. By cross-referencing similar key skills across a wide array of occupations, these lifeboat jobs can provide new alternatives for job seekers looking to rejoin the workforce that they may not have previously considered as an option.

“Each lifeboat job affords an individual with an opportunity to earn a paycheck almost immediately. The skills you learn in a previous occupation often prepare for you for something new, even if you don’t realize it at the time. Similarly, once you find yourself “safe from the storm” in a lifeboat job, you’re acquiring new skills and experiences that, in the future, can set you up to transition into a higher-pay job or start on a brand new career pathway,” said Brian Nottingham, DEW’s Director of LMI/Business Intelligence Division. “By purposely incorporating Labor Market Information (LMI) as a vital element in job searching and career planning, opportunities that might not be immediately apparent can oftentimes be revealed. We believe that the hands-on application of this information is going to help a lot of people make informed decisions about their professional futures.”

Starting next Wednesday, August 26th, the Lifeboat Jobs will be shared through a press release, on our social media channels and on our website.