FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
- A lot of people are finding it tough to find work amid fewer job openings.
- Indeed's Nick Bunker said it's likely harder, in particular, for those in corporate jobs.
- ZipRecruiter's Julia Pollak said it seems "employers are not as aggressively courting new hires."
If you're struggling to find a new job, it's not just because you didn't spend enough time on your cover letter.
Economic data suggests the US job market isn't as favorable for job seekers and switchers as it was a year or two ago — when the quits rate reached record levels and the phenomenon was dubbed the Great Resignation.
"Fewer people are quitting their jobs, which is a sign that people who do have jobs, they're having a relatively hard time finding new work or they're just not taking that leap to go to take one or find one," Nick Bunker, economic research director for North America at the Indeed Hiring Lab, told Business Insider.
Over the last year, fewer job openings, lower wage gains for job-switchers, and recession fears have resulted in more workers staying put. In 2022, a record number of job openings brought plenty of opportunities for workers looking to switch jobs.
But in October, openings fell to 8.7 million, their lowest level since March 2021. There were just 1.3 job openings per unemployed person as of October. While that's still a little higher than where that count stood before the pandemic, it's fallen well below the series high of 2.0 in March 2022. Some recruiters say the rise of "ghost jobs," which are job postings that employers are no longer, or simply not, hiring for, has dealt job seekers with a tougher hand than the data suggests.
The labor market is still quite strong, even as companies are posting fewer openings and would-be job-switchers are staying put. A near-record-low unemployment rate meant there were fewer individuals in need of work who were competing for job openings. While the unemployment rate remains low when compared to historic levels, it ticked up from 3.4% in January to 3.7% in November.
In addition to new unemployment data, the latest employment report out Friday showed there were 199,000 nonfarm payroll jobs added in November compared to 150,000 jobs added in the previous month.
Workers in corporate jobs are finding it harder
Some groups of workers in particular may be facing a tougher road for switching jobs. Bunker said that "it is slightly harder to find a job than it was last year" but the level of difficulty is similar to before the pandemic.
Bunker said it's likely harder "for many workers in traditional business jobs" like ones in the corporate world. He pointed to Indeed's posting index, which shows based on sector data a downturn in openings for sectors that may include white-collar positions.
"The sectors that have seen the biggest declines in job postings are ones more likely to be traditional office jobs," Bunker said, or those that can potentially be done remotely.
Meanwhile, food preparation and other jobs that are typically performed in person are "still fairly strong," Bunker said.
For jobs where one is "staring at a screen and typing into things," Bunker said "the prospects aren't as great as they were a couple years ago."
Julia Pollak, the chief economist at ZipRecruiter, similarly told Business Insider that it's easier to find openings in some industries than others. She said "you may still feel like the employers are rolling out the red carpet for you if you're in nursing" and some other medical and healthcare roles like medical technologists.
Pollak said "there has been a consistent stable slowdown in the labor market" over the past 18 months. However, she added that 18 months ago the then-very-hot labor market could be described as unsustainable and noted those looking for work also had "unprecedented leverage."
"Employers are not as aggressively courting new hires," Pollak said.
While the Great Resignation might not be returning anytime soon, there's still hope for Americans who are on the job hunt. The 1.3 job openings per unemployed person ratio is higher than any pre-pandemic level, according to BLS data that dates back to December 2000. And if a moderately worse job market helps the Federal Reserve achieve its desired "soft landing" — and the US avoids a recession — job seekers could end up better off in the long run.
"If you're using last year, late 2021 as your reference point for the US labor market, it was just a very strange and unusual time in the US economy, and there was really rip roaring gains in the labor market," Bunker said.
Are you finding it harder to find a job? How long did it take you to land a new position? Reach out to these reporters at jzinkula@businessinsider.com and mhoff@businessinsider.com.