20-Year Prospect

20-Year Prospect

Look, as long as people need to eat but don't want to cook or do any dishes, food service will be incredibly popular. That doesn't mean the job won't change in the next two decades, or even the next two years—this career hasn't stopped changing since the service industry was created. There was even a time when you might be forced to do it while wearing roller skates. Now, at least, you get to walk there.

Technology's helped streamline the whole ordering process; we've gone from remembering all the specifics to notepads and pens to computer-assisted ticket systems to just tapping it in on a tablet. Eventually customers are just going to beam their drink orders directly into the server's brain.

While job growth over the coming years is a bite-sized three percent, there are still over two-and-a-half million service jobs out there, so any growth's still going to mean a massive amount of jobs. This means you'll have plenty of job opportunities in the future—even if they do make you serve while riding a hoverboard.