Trends in Post-pandemic Instructional Design: An Exploratory Analysis of Job Ads Using Textual Analysis

With a projected 6% job growth in instructional design over the next decade, the field is thriving. Keeping abreast of trends in the jobs market provides valuable insight to both technical and professional communication (TPC) instructors and practitioners. Although there are some studies reporting on the impact the Covid pandemic had on changing the nature of work for instructional designers, there is a gap in research examining instructional design job ads in the post-pandemic market. As part of an ongoing research project examining over 10,000 instructional design job ads in the U.S. collected between January 2022 and June 2023, this paper uses textual analysis to identify patterns and trends relating to instructional design skills and tools in the post-pandemic jobs market.

Introduction

With a projected 6% job growth in instructional design over the next decade [1], the field is thriving. Although there are some survey-based studies reporting on the impact the Covid pandemic had on changing the nature of work for instructional designers [2]-[4], there is a gap in research analyzing instructional design job advertisements in the post-pandemic market. Given the popularity of hybrid and remote work in the U.S. [5], as well as the ongoing growth of e-learning and technology integration in learning design [6], [7], keeping abreast of trends in the jobs market provides valuable insight to both technical and professional communication (TPC) instructors and practitioners. And now, with the introduction of generative AI tools, it is imperative to monitor how these new tools shape employer expectations for instructional designers.