Total VeteranAI-Resistant Careers for Veterans: Six Fields With Growth and Pay Figures (2026)
Hire Heroes USA and Redeployable name six fields where veterans do well and AI displaces little. Here are the current growth, pay and entry figures, plus the caveats.
- The six fields are cybersecurity, healthcare, skilled trades, engineering, logistics and operations or programme management.
- BLS projects information security analysts to grow 21% from 2025 to 2035, below the 33% quoted for the earlier cycle.
- Healthcare occupations offer about 1.9 million US openings a year; nurse practitioners lead growth at 41.0%.
- Logisticians are projected to grow 18% with a median wage of $82,320.
- UK entry-level cyber demand is tight: 17% of 2024 postings targeted entry level.
Six career fields combine veteran retention, projected demand and resistance to full automation: cybersecurity, healthcare, skilled trades, engineering, logistics and supply chain, and operations and programme management. That is the finding of "The AI Career Shift: Where Veterans Should Focus in 2026", published by Hire Heroes USA and Redeployable in February 2026 (summary on Military.com). Below are the six fields with current US and UK figures, the entry routes, and the caveats that the headline list leaves out.
How the report chose the six fields
Hire Heroes USA supplied two years of client outcomes, tracking where veterans stay, advance and report satisfaction at 3, 6, 12 and 24 months. Redeployable, founded by British Army veteran Ben Read, combined that data with Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projections and automation models. A field made the list when three things overlapped: strong veteran retention and advancement, projected demand, and work that depends on human judgement, leadership under uncertainty, physical presence or complex coordination. The summary publishes no retention percentages, so treat the ranking as directional.
The six fields with 2025 to 2035 US figures
The report quoted BLS growth for the earlier 2023 to 2033 cycle. The table uses the BLS projections released on 27 August 2026 and the Occupational Outlook Handbook (pay is the May 2025 median).
| Field | Reference occupation (US) | Projected growth, 2025 to 2035 | Median pay | Jobs and openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cybersecurity | Information security analysts | 21% | $129,180 | 192,900 jobs in 2025; about 14,100 openings a year |
| Healthcare | Registered nurses | 5.6% (+194,700) | $97,550 | Healthcare occupations: about 1.9 million openings a year |
| Healthcare | Nurse practitioners | 41.0% | $132,300 | 336,300 jobs in 2025 |
| Healthcare | EMTs and paramedics | 6% | $48,150 | 284,100 jobs; about 18,200 openings a year |
| Skilled trades | Electricians | 9% | $63,190 | 821,000 jobs; about 72,700 openings a year |
| Skilled trades | Heating, air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics | 11% | $61,010 | 440,900 jobs; about 40,600 openings a year |
| Skilled trades | Industrial machinery mechanics | 17.8% | $64,520 | 446,900 jobs in 2025 |
| Engineering | Civil engineers | 6% | $100,840 | 380,600 jobs; about 22,700 openings a year |
| Engineering | Mechanical engineers | 11% | $104,110 | 298,500 jobs; about 17,800 openings a year |
| Engineering | Electrical and electronics engineers | 8% | $125,040 | 297,900 jobs; about 16,300 openings a year |
| Logistics and supply chain | Logisticians | 18% | $82,320 | 255,100 jobs; about 26,600 openings a year |
| Operations and programme management | Project management specialists | 6.7% (+73,200) | $102,320 | Among the 30 occupations adding the most jobs |
| Operations and programme management | General and operations managers | 5.0% (+181,300) | $105,770 | Fifth largest job gain of any US occupation |
| Operations and programme management | Management analysts | 10.1% (+109,200) | $101,860 | Among the 30 occupations adding the most jobs |
The all-occupations benchmark is 3.5% growth and a median wage of $50,980. Every reference occupation above except EMTs and paramedics pays more than that. Growth is uneven: skilled trades and energy jobs such as wind turbine technicians (+29.5%) and solar installers (+36.5%) grow fastest, while engineering and project roles grow at a steadier pace.
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Which service backgrounds the report links to each field
The report maps military experience to the six fields as follows. These are the report's own pairings, so check them against your trade and the job descriptions you want.
| Field | Service background the report highlights |
|---|---|
| Cybersecurity | Signals intelligence, cyber operations and IT backgrounds; clearances and an adversarial mindset help from the start |
| Healthcare | Combat medics and corpsmen moving into nursing, EMT, paramedic or operations roles |
| Skilled trades | Aviation maintenance and equipment specialties; demand tied to energy and infrastructure projects |
| Engineering | Avionics and combat engineering veterans starting in support roles and advancing; data centre build-out creates openings |
| Logistics and supply chain | Transportation and quartermaster experience in moving assets and coordinating in a crisis |
| Operations and programme management | NCO and officer experience supporting quick entry to mid-level roles |
The UK picture
UK sources describe the same fields in different units, so this table lists what each publication reports.
| Field | UK evidence | Source and year |
|---|---|---|
| Cybersecurity | Workforce about 145,900; 53% of cyber firms expect to grow headcount in 2026; core cyber postings up 7% on 2024 | DCMS and DSIT, 2026 |
| Cybersecurity pay | Median advertised salary for core cyber roles £55,000 (2024 postings) | DSIT, 2025 |
| Healthcare and care | Health and social care associate professionals +0.60 million, 2020 to 2035 | NFER, 2022 |
| Care workers | Care workers and home carers: about 90,000 additional jobs by 2030 | Skills England, 2025 |
| Construction and energy trades | Housebuilding +42% and clean energy industries +77% in employment to 2030 | Skills England, 2025 |
| Engineering | Science, research, engineering and technology professionals +0.90 million, 2020 to 2035 | NFER, 2022 |
| Low AI exposure trades | Roofers, plasterers, steel erectors and hospital porters rank among the ten least AI-exposed UK occupations | DfE, 2023 |
No UK source I could open gives a comparable projection for logistics or programme management, so those two fields rely on the US data.
Entry routes
- Cybersecurity. BLS lists a bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field as typical, and notes some workers enter with a high school diploma plus training and certifications.
- Electricians. BLS describes a 4 to 5 year apprenticeship with about 2,000 paid on-the-job hours a year, and most US states require a licence. Our guide to veteran apprenticeships and trade pathways covers the UK and US routes.
- Logisticians. BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry level. Our piece on the logistics, engineering and operations pipeline maps service roles to these jobs.
- Healthcare. Entry ranges from nursing assistants to physicians, with registered nurses needing a bachelor's degree and nursing assistants a postsecondary non-degree award (BLS).
Where the headline needs a check
- The cyber figure has moved. The report quotes 33% growth through 2033. The August 2026 BLS release puts information security analysts at 21% for 2025 to 2035. Demand is strong, and the number is lower.
- Technology is not uniformly safe. The same BLS release projects computer user support specialists down 3.5% (26,200 jobs) and network and computer systems administrators down 4.1% (13,200 jobs).
- Entry-level cyber is the tight spot. In the UK, 17% of 2024 cyber postings targeted entry level and 63% asked for 2 to 6 years of experience. Core cyber postings fell 33% in 2024 before rising 7% in 2025.
- Low exposure is a relative ranking. BLS tiers occupations by AI exposure and states that a low tier does not mean an occupation is unaffected. The OECD AI exposure measure (May 2026) finds the least exposed work requires contextual judgement, interpersonal understanding, complex decision-making and responsibility.
Exposure rankings change as tools improve. Choose the field where your service history gives you a head start, confirm openings in your region, and keep one transferable skill (planning, leadership, systems knowledge) that survives a change of employer.
What to do this week
- Pick the one field where your service role gives you a head start.
- Look up the reference occupation in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook or DSIT reports.
- Search live vacancies in your region and note the required qualification.
- Price the qualification or apprenticeship and ask your resettlement or VA adviser about funding.
- Contact two people in the field and ask what a first role looks like.
Questions people ask
Which careers are safest from AI for veterans?
Is cybersecurity still a good career for veterans?
Which skilled trades are growing fastest?
Does low AI exposure mean a job is safe?
Where can UK veterans find similar data?
- Military.com, "Six AI-Proof Sweet Spot Careers Where Veterans Dominate in 2026" (4 March 2026). https://365.military.com/feature/2026/03/04/6-ai-proof-sweet-spot-careers-where-veterans-dominate-2026-new-report-reveals-winners.html
- BLS, "Employment Projections: 2025-2035" news release (27 August 2026). https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.htm
- BLS, "Occupations with the most job growth", table 1.4 (2025 to 2035). https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/occupations-most-job-growth.htm
- BLS, "Occupations with the largest job declines", table 1.6 (2025 to 2035). https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/occupations-largest-job-declines.htm
- BLS, "Information security analysts", Occupational Outlook Handbook. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/information-security-analysts.htm
- BLS, "Logisticians", Occupational Outlook Handbook. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/logisticians.htm
- BLS, "Healthcare occupations", Occupational Outlook Handbook. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/home.htm
- BLS, "AI exposure categories" (2026). https://www.bls.gov/emp/publications/ai-exposure-categories.htm
- DCMS and DSIT, "Cyber security skills in the UK labour market 2026" (September 2026). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cyber-security-skills-in-the-uk-labour-market-2026
- Skills England, "Assessment of priority skills to 2030" (2025). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/assessment-of-priority-skills-to-2030/assessment-of-priority-skills-to-2030
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