From tech behemoths like Amazon, Google, and Meta, to fintech companies such as Klarna and Stripe, many firms looked at their bottom lines in 2022 and found them wanting. In order to weather a stormy economic outlook, preserve cash, and streamline over-large teams, tech firms scaled back.

Starting spring 2022, we began to hear rumblings around layoffs, and by the end of the year, 1,040 tech companies had laid off 159,684 workers. Coverage has focused mostly on layoffs, and this can give a skewed impression of the real health of the industry. It is key to keep in mind that tech is a constantly evolving industry, and new jobs keep opening up regardless.

Roles around cloud computing are a case in point, with the cloud sector experiencing unprecedented growth over the past three years thanks to the increased pace of digitalization during the pandemic. If you're looking to develop a long-lasting career in technology, it's important to identify jobs and sectors with growth potential.

Here are five growth careers to consider in 2023, with plenty more to discover on the TechSpot Job Board:

Data Scientist

More data means more skilled workers who can work with it to derive meaningful insights. There were 79 zettabytes of data generated worldwide in 2021, and the global big data analytics market annual revenue is estimated to reach $68 billion by 2025.

Working across a variety of fields and industries, including healthcare, financial services and public policy - as well as tech companies - this is a growth career. For example, PayPal is hiring a Data Scientist for its Shopping and Loyalty Analytics team based in San Jose, CA. They are looking for exceptional problem solvers with a passion for data insights. Analyzing key trends from multiple perspectives and package those insights into easily consumable presentations. Get more information here.

Machine Learning Engineer

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects a 15% increase in computer and information research jobs up to 2029. That's good news for artificial learning (AI) specialists and machine learning engineers, who use AI to train computer models.

This career has applications across the workforce, with finance, business, genetics and genomics, healthcare, retail, and education sectors all in need of talented individuals. The market size is expected to grow to $106 billion by 2030, according to Market Research Future.

If you're ready to apply for a role now, Apple has a Machine Learning Engineer role in Seattle, WA, on offer. You will work on music, podcasts, movies and TV shows, which are core assets at the crux of Apple's ecosystem. This role is for you if you are skilled in deep learning fields, such as image classification, recognition, object detection, segmentation, OCR and have knowledge and experience on processing sequential data, such as audio and video. Find out more about the job.

User Experience (UX) Designer

Responsible for the overall user experience of a product, including everything from its look and feel to how easy it is to use, UX designers also understand how users interact with a product, using research and analysis to find out what people like - and don't like - about their current experiences.

This is another pan-industry career; with customer experience (CX) at the fulcrum of many company's strategies, UX designers are vital to ensure that experience with products or services is seamless and enjoyable.

Cognizant, the American multinational information technology services and consulting company, is seeking a UX Designer in Philadelphia, PA. You will act as a go-to human-centered design (HCD) expert and will be the voice in the room to evangelize HCD with internal and external stakeholders. Interested? Find out more here.

DevOps Engineer

DevOps is an increasingly important role, placing specialists at the intersection of two departments, ensuring the integration for both software development and information technology operations. DevOps engineers have a strong technical background, but they also understand business needs and can communicate with both development teams and IT operations teams.

A relatively new profession, it evolved between 2007 and 2008. Initially a job found in pure tech companies, DevOps are now finding their feet in manufacturing, where process and inventory management can be a significant challenge. Healthtech, insurtech and banking are all also hiring.

A Senior AWS DevOps Specialist is required at Deloitte in Dallas, TX. If you are a cloud solutions builder who wants to work in a collaborative environment, you will share new ideas and collaborate on projects as a consultant. Among other qualifications, you will need six years' of experience with implementation, migrations and upgrades in the AWS Cloud environment. Find out more here.

Application Developer

Application developers are in demand. The BLS states that the overall employment of software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers is projected to grow 25% to 2031; much faster than the average for all occupations.

In addition to developing mobile applications, web browsers and desktop apps, this is a career you can develop across industries, not just Big Tech. Citi, the investment bank and financial services corporation, has an opening for an Application Developer in Columbus, OH. You will need five to eight years' of relevant experience plus experience in systems analysis and programming of software applications. Get all the details on this job.