According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, some of the highest paying jobs of 2019 are surgeons, psychiatrists, orthodontists, and anesthesiologists. What they all have in common is the fact that they all lie within the medical field. Whether it be revolving around mental or physical health is beside the point. Still, these are just based on median salaries.

It may feel to some that to make any money in this world they have to go get their doctoral, law, or business degree. But with every passing day, that becomes less and less true.

Of course, following those plans would bring in a lot of money for yourself, but with the ever changing landscape of businesses, communication and English degrees have become more and more important.

Just to give an example, the bureau also reports that the occupation of a technical writer is expected to grow 7 percent in the next 8 years. Why? Well like stated before, communication is becoming more important than ever: especially with the unknown surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus has drastically impacted the way businesses run themselves. A vast number of people are working from home in 2020: more people than ever before. But with that comes some communication issues.

Instead of being able to stand up and walk over to a coworker’s desk, emails and virtual meetings have become the main source of contact. With that being the case, businesses are going to need more and more people with the skills that come along with such degrees as English, journalism, communications, et cetera.

Now, it is not like someone with a communications/English degree was not important before. But the means of communication were just much easier in a time where face-to-face contact was the most common form. Also, most experts agree that between 70 and 93 percent of communication is made non-verbally. And with that being said, it becomes much harder for people to understand what someone is trying to convey in one singular e-mail. That is why getting something like an online communications degree would be more than worth it in the year 2020.

Another reason why liberal arts degrees have become more impactful than ever before is because of the implementation of social media into business models. Similar to the email situation, companies will need someone who can effectively and proficiently relay messages to their customers.

Now could someone with a business degree be able to type out a Tweet for a company and hit send? Of course, but wouldn’t people rather have someone with a background and history in effective communication do that instead? More likely than not, yes.

So although the most high-paying jobs remain focused and centered on the medical field, English and communications degrees are nothing to snark at. Workers with degrees in those areas were important before this unforeseen pandemic, but now that experience is more relevant than ever.