The job market is red hot. There were 11 million job openings and 6.5 million hires in October 2021 alone. Similar numbers for openings and hires have been posted since the summer.
And while much has been written about the "Great Resignation," job departures are only half of the story. Record-setting job openings and a record pace of hiring are the other half.
So which industries and occupations are growing fastest?
In October,
- 1.8 million job postings were open for health care and social assistance roles,
- 1.6 million job postings were open for accommodation and food services roles (which includes restaurants and hotels), and
- 1.1 million job postings were open for retail roles.
That’s according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Those were also the industries that saw the most hires in October. In just that month,
- 1.1 million hires were made for accommodation and food services positions,
- 867,000 hires were made for retail positions, and
- 698,000 hires were made for health care and social assistance positions.
In terms of specific occupations, job postings in human resources, loading and stocking, production and manufacturing, and software development increased around 100% since January 2021, per Indeed.
Software engineers, project managers, and salespeople made up the largest percentages of roles hired between April and June 2021, according to data collected by LinkedIn.
Another factor for job seekers to keep in mind is the rapid growth of COVID-19 vaccine requirements showing up in job postings -- although less than 1% of job ads on Indeed include a vaccine requirement.
Key findings
- There were 11 million non-farm job openings and 6.5 million non-farm hires in October 2021.
- Over one million jobs were open in the following industries in October: health care and social assistance, accommodation and food services, and retail.
- Over one million hires were made in the accommodation and food services industry in October 2021. The retail industry hired 867,000 workers and 698,000 were hired into health care and social assistance roles.
- Software engineer, project manager, and salesperson were the most common titles of new hires on LinkedIn between April and June 2021.
- Job postings on Indeed for human resources, loading and stocking, production and manufacturing, and software development are up around 100% since February 2020.
- COVID-19 vaccine requirements are quickly growing on job postings, but still appear on less than 1% of those posted on Indeed.
There were 11 million job openings and 6.5 million hires in October 2021
In October alone, there were 11 million open job openings and 6.5 million hires, both near record levels.
Openings and hires saw a sharp drop in March and April 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the United States.
Hires peaked in May 2020 at just over eight million, while openings have steadily risen since the spring of 2020. May and June 2020 were the only months since the start of that year in which there were more hires than openings.
Since June 2020, the gap between job openings and hires has gradually grown to record levels. In response, employers have raised wages and offered other incentives to lure in prospects.
