Product Management Job Outlook

Product management is a hot career path. According to a LinkedIn survey, the number of Product Manager jobs is increasing around 30 percent every year. There is a significant talent gap in product management, with more job openings than candidates skilled in product management and a rapidly increasing number of jobs. 

Some of the factors driving this exploding demand are increased adoption of technology and the need for technological products across industries, the economic dominance of big tech companies such as Facebook and Amazon, and the acceleration of e-commerce and online shopping caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The need for digital products and e-commerce is creating demand for Product Managers in every industry. For example, some of the major companies hiring the most people in product management roles include Walmart, Bank of America, J. Morgan Chase, Home Depot, Wayfair, Visa, and Amazon.

What is a Product Manager?

A Product Manager manages a specific product, including physical products, software programs, and other digital products. Product Managers are often called the “CEO of a product,” and manage its design, development, and appeal to customers. 

Product Managers need a strong combination of business skills, design skills, and tech skills. 

Because Product Managers oversee all the parts of a product, they are required to have three core skill sets: coding, user-driven design, and project management. Product Managers often work with development teams, marketing teams, design teams, stakeholders, and users to ensure the success of a product. 

Product Managers provide the “what” and “why” behind a business’s products, using research and user-driven design principles. 

What is the Job Outlook for Graphic Design?

Product management is a creative and rewarding career. It can also be lucrative: the average salary for a Product Manager is around $90,000. Product Managers at major tech companies, such as Meta or Google, earn around $175,000. However, Product Managers earn more at companies across industries. For example, Product Managers at Boeing earning around $170,000 annually. Walmart pays Product Managers around $150,000. 

Salary can also vary based on location. For example, Product Managers in New York City earn around $105,000 annually, while Product Managers in Dallas, TX, earn around $95,000. 

Product Management is growing much faster than the average. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, product management is expected to grow around 10 percent by 2024. Much of the growth in product management can be traced back to the rise of data-driven business decisions and the digital transformation in every industry. Technology is driving the need for Product Managers across industries. The finance industry is one of the fastest growing for Product Managers because financial institutions must develop digital tools and platforms to remain competitive in the market. In the entertainment industry, the rise of streaming services, such as Spotify and Hulu, is creating demand for Product Managers. 

Job Outlook

Product management jobs increased by around 33 percent from 2017 to 2019. According to a LinkedIn survey, the number of Product Manager jobs is increasing around 30 percent every year. Other product management roles are also increasing rapidly: Product Designer and Product Owner jobs are seeing growth around 86 percent each year. Product Marketing Managers are growing by around 30 percent each year. 

There are three major factors driving the exploding demand for Product Managers: the need for digital products and platforms across industries, the economic dominance of tech giants such as Apple and Google, and the growing demand for e-commerce and online shopping. 

Future Growth

Another major factor driving the demand for Product Managers and determining the field’s future growth is the COVID-19 pandemic. The global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company reported that the pandemic accelerated digital adoption by more than five years. This ongoing trend will only increase the rate at which product management jobs grow. 

The COVID-19 pandemic also led to the normalization of digital platforms, such as Zoom, which saw unprecedented growth during that time. According to Forbes, overall internet usage increased by more than 70 percent and streaming by 12 percent. Many brick-and-mortar stores were forced to rely on digital solutions to keep profits high and their customers safe. E-commerce saw increased revenue of $175 billion. For example, Walmart’s e-commerce profits have increased by 74 percent since the beginning of the pandemic due to increasing demand for grocery pickup and delivery. 

According to research conducted by McKinsey & Company, Product Managers are increasingly fast tracked into the pipeline for CEO roles. The CEOs of Google, Microsoft, PepsiCo, and Yahoo all started at their companies in product management roles. 

Industries

Product Managers used to mostly work in the tech industry to bridge the communication gap between developers/engineers and customers. However, digital adoption across industries is driving massive demand for Product Managers in every industry. 

Finance

In the finance sector, financial institutions are required to provide digital platforms and products for their customers, such as smartphone apps and online banking. This is driving massive demand for Product Managers at companies like JP Morgan Chase, Cisa, Mastercard, Bank of America, and Capital One. Some financial companies, such as MasterCard, are actively recruiting and paying to train Product Managers due to the significant talent gap in the field. 

Healthcare

Product Managers in the healthcare sector work on software and physical products. Some digital products in the healthcare sector might include software for scheduling appointments, making diagnoses, and recording medical notes and patient medical records. Some examples of physical products that a Product Manager in the healthcare industry might work on include wearable healthcare devices and healthcare monitors. 

Brick-and-Mortar

Traditional brick-and-mortar stores were already being impacted by digital transformation before the COVID-19 pandemic drastically accelerated this process, with some estimates putting it at around five years. E-commerce sales grew over 74 percent during the pandemic and helped to normalize online shopping and grocery delivery. 

Some of the companies hiring the most Product Managers include Walmart, Restoration Hardware, Wayfair, Home Depot, and Dick’s Sporting Goods. 

Entertainment & Media

Another sector hiring a lot of Product Managers is the entertainment industry. Much of this demand is being driven by the rise of streaming platforms, such as Spotify, Hulu, Disney+, Tidal, HBOMax, Netflix, and Amazon Prime. 

Buzzfeed and Vox both credit their success in the online market compared to other more traditional journalism sources with their ability to see their site as “products” by integrating journalism with user experience principles. 

Salary

Product management can be a lucrative career, with an average salary of around $110,000 annually. The average annual salary for a Product Manager is more than double the national average across all occupations. This means that training in product management could double your annual salary. 

How Do I Find a Product Manager Job?

If you’re interested in launching a new career as a Product Manager, you’re probably wondering how you find a job in product management. With more and more companies recognizing the need for Product Managers, you’ll be able to find open positions on popular job boards, such as Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn. 

There are also more niche job sites, such as Mind the Product and ProductHQ. If you’re a woman, you might consider checking Women in Product, which offers job listings as well as conferences and workshops designed to help women who work in product management. 

If you’re a new Product Manager with less experience, you’ll probably find the best position at a startup. Because startups are just getting their start, they’re more likely to hire new Product Managers so they can grow together. The popularity of startups has been a driving force behind the popularity of product management. Don’t limit your thinking to the tech industry! Product Managers are in high demand in every industry. 

Many Product Managers begin by working in one of the product management core skill sets, such as coding, UX design, or project management. If you’re new to all three, you might decide which you want to “focus on” when training and then seek a job in that field to gain experience for your product management career. 

Once you’re ready to start working as a Product Manager, you’ll need to create a Product Manager Portfolio, which is a document that creates a narrative about why you’re qualified to work as a Product Manager. Consider your portfolio to be a visual and textual representation of your qualifications. A competitive Product Manager Portfolio should include previous job experience, skills and strengths, education (such as product management bootcamps and certificate programs), and case studies. One great tip for making your portfolio is to think of it as communicating your personal brand. 

Learn the Skills to Become a Product Manager at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers business, design, and coding classes live online and in-person classes at their state-of-the-art campus in Midtown Manhattan. Training at Noble Desktop offers aspiring Product Managers a huge head start since they specialize in the three core job skills: coding, user-driven design, and project management. 

All of Noble Desktop’s courses are taught by expert instructors, have guaranteed small class sizes, and feature a “free retake” option, meaning you can “retake” any course for free for up to one year to continue developing your skills. Noble Desktop uses a unique approach to career training: their expert instructors teach a “micro-lecture” and then immediately guide students through applying what they’ve learned through real-world, hands-on projects. This unique approach guarantees that you’ll learn the skills you need to launch a new career as a Product Manager. 

Hiring managers report that certificates and certifications move a resume to the top of the pile. Noble Desktop offers certificate programs in the three core skill sets: software engineering, user-driven design (UX), and project management. Earning certificates in these core skill sets can help you launch a new career as a Product Manager. 

Noble Desktop’s Software Engineering Certificate provides the technical experience needed by a Product Manager. This certificate program is divided into two parts: front end development (what you see) and back end development (how it works). In the first part, expert instructors guide students through coding in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. In the second part, expert instructors guide students through the fundamentals of coding in Python, Django, and querying with SQL. Professional Product Managers often recommend learning SQL as an additional skill. This certificate program will give you a head start. Graduates earn a New York State Licensed Certificate in Software Engineering, which is shareable on LinkedIn. 

Product Managers are advocates for the user: they know how to use research and data to make sure the product meets the user’s needs. To do this, you’ll need skills in user experience (UX) design. Noble Desktop’s UX & UI Design Certificate provides comprehensive training in user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design. Students are guided through hands-on, real-world projects to learn user-driven design principles, user research, product prototype building, creating product case studies, and visual designs. This certificate program also trains students in using Figma and Sketch for design and prototyping. Graduates earn a New York State Licensed Certificate in UX & UI design, which is verifiable and shareable on Linkedin. 

Project management is a very hot career path on its own and one of the core skill sets of becoming a Product Manager. You might think of a Product Manager as handling the “what” and “why” and project management as handling the “how” and “when.” Noble Desktop’s Project Management Bootcamp project management courses are taught by PMP-certified Project Managers. Students are guided through real-world projects to develop skills in the Project Life Cycle, project management terminology, project selection and scheduling, resource management, risk management, and Agile Frameworks. 

If you’d like to read more about becoming a Product Manager, you might check out this Product Management Learn Hub. Combining these certificates on your resume is a fantastic way to launch a new career as a Product Manager.