How Many Jobs Are Available in Diversified Commercial Services?

The diversified commercial services industry encompasses a wide range of businesses that provide services to other companies and organizations. This industry includes building maintenance services, business support services, commercial printing services, waste management services, and more. With its diversity and ubiquity across the American economy, diversified commercial services offers abundant job opportunities for almost every skillset and career trajectory.

An Overview of the Diversified Commercial Services Industry

The diversified commercial services industry is comprised of establishments that provide services to businesses and institutions on a contract or fee basis. These services are necessary for companies and organizations to operate effectively and efficiently.

Some of the key segments within diversified commercial services include:

Facilities support services – Providing services like janitorial, landscaping, waste management, and other facility operation and maintenance services.
Business support services – Offering services like telemarketing, collection agencies, credit reporting, mail services, document preparation, fulfillment, etc.
Commercial printing – Printing books, magazines, labels, business cards, and other materials for companies.
Industrial laundry services – Washing linens, uniforms, dust control items, and other laundry services, primarily for businesses and institutions.
Security guard services – Providing security guard protection, patrol services, and other security-related services.
Collection agencies – Collecting payments for claims and remitting payments collected to clients.

The diversified commercial services industry generated over $950 billion in revenue in 2021 in the United States according to IBISWorld. The industry employs over 8 million people across over 500,000 businesses nationwide. It is a major and rapidly growing component of the US economy.

Abundant Job Opportunities Across Roles

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are about 1,449,800 jobs available in diversified commercial services in the United States. However, the available jobs can vary widely depending on the specific role and company within the industry. Some common jobs in the industry include:

Management and Business Roles

Accountant
Financial analyst
Project manager
Business development manager
Operations manager
Sales manager

These roles oversee the business operations, sales, marketing, accounting, HR, project management, and overall strategy for commercial services companies. They require business degrees and prior management experience.

Administrative and Office Support Roles

Administrative assistant
Customer service representative
Dispatcher
Receptionist
Data entry clerk

These office support and clerical roles provide vital administrative support to keep companies running smoothly. They usually require a high school diploma and prior office experience.

Facilities Services and Maintenance Roles

Janitor / Cleaner
Landscaper
Facilities manager
Maintenance technician
Waste collector
Laundry worker

These roles maintain buildings, properties, and facilities for commercial clients. They involve manual labor and working with tools/equipment. Many require a high school diploma or training certificate.

Security Services Roles

Security guard
Security officer
Loss prevention officer

These roles provide protection, patrol premises, monitor activities, enforce regulations, and deter criminal activity. Most require a high school diploma and security guard certification.

Career Stability and Trajectory

The diversified commercial services industry provides stable careers for workers at all levels. The services these companies provide, like building maintenance, printing, and business support, are essential for enterprises and institutions to function. As such, demand remains consistent even during economic downturns.

For motivated individuals, there is ample room for pay raises, promotions, and career advancement over time by:

Gaining more skills, training, certifications
Taking on greater responsibilities
Transitioning into supervisory or managerial roles

Many companies in commercial services also encourage internal mobility between departments, allowing employees to find the right role for their skills and interests.

Positions for All Education Levels

The diversified commercial services industry has job opportunities for candidates at every education level:

High School Diploma Jobs

Many entry-level jobs, like administrative assistant, janitor, security guard, laundry worker, landscaper, and customer service rep only require a high school diploma or equivalent. These roles provide a pathway to gain work experience.

Vocational or Associate Degree Jobs

Maintenance technician, bookkeeper, accounting clerk, and similar roles often require an associate degree or certificate from a vocational program. These applied education programs teach specialized job skills.

Bachelor’s Degree Jobs

Having a bachelor’s degree opens up professional roles like accountant, financial analyst, marketing manager, sales manager, HR manager, and more. Business, marketing, finance, HR degrees are applicable.

Master’s or Doctorate Degree Jobs

Higher degrees like an MBA, MA, or PhD qualify candidates for the highest levels of management, executive leadership, research, and consulting roles within diversified commercial services firms.

Clearly, the industry can accommodate professionals at any education level and provides abundant openings to enter the workforce. Motivated individuals can steadily advance their career over time through experience and learning new skills on the job or through degree programs.

Aligning with Career Interests and Skills

Beyond formal education, the diversified commercial services industry offers roles suited to almost any set of interests and inherent strengths:

Social, verbal skills – client-facing jobs in sales, customer service, business development
Numerical, analytical skills – accountant, financial analyst, data analysis
Physical abilities – janitor, landscaper, maintenance tech, laundry work
Organization, administration – office managers, administrative assistants
Leadership, strategy – operations managers, project managers, executives
Creativity, design – marketing roles, graphic designers

So whether you excel working with numbers, words, tools, or people, there are applicable roles within the industry. The breadth of positions provides many options to leverage individual talents.

Job Security Integrated with the Economy

Lastly, diversified commercial services offers reliable job security since it is deeply integrated into the fabric of the American economy. Enterprises across all industries rely on these B2B services to operate.

As long as businesses, government institutions, schools, hospitals and other organizations exist, there will be steady demand for facility maintenance, security, printing, laundry, waste management, and business support services. Employees can have confidence that these jobs will remain stable over the long-term.

Conclusion

In summary, the diversified commercial services industry offers abundant employment opportunities across a diverse range of occupations. With over 1.4 million jobs currently available, it can accommodate professionals at any education level who have varied skills and interests.

The industry provides steady careers with long-term stability, advancement potential through experience and learning, and roles suited to almost any individual’s strengths and capabilities. Given its essential nature across the economy, diversified commercial services will continue to offer a breadth of jobs into the future.

Also Read:

Editorial Team

The Editorial Team at AnswerCatch.com brings you insightful and accurate content on a wide range of topics. Our diverse team of talented writers is passionate about providing you with the best possible reading experience.