U.S. Job Openings -29% Since Early March As Weekly Decline Slows to 1%

Key Findings

• U.S. job openings on Glassdoor declined 29% since the start of March. Job openings continue to fall weekly, but the rate of decline has dropped from -8% to -1%. While this isn’t good news outright, it is less grim and provides some cautious optimism that the labor market may begin to recover soon.
• As businesses reopen, demand for workers is slowly returning for in-person service industries like retail and food services, which were among the most dramatically affected by the shutdowns. Job openings for in-person services grew 2% on May 11 from the week prior, the first week-over-week increase for these industries since the crisis began.
• As states begin reopening businesses, there’s no obvious relationship between state restrictions and changes in job openings. States with less and more restrictive policies alike continue to see declines in job openings.
• Near real-time job market insights are vital to understanding the market in a pandemic and can be a powerful supplement to government data. Data from Glassdoor’s Job Market Report and the BLS’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) March report show nearly identical trends: a 13% and 12% drop, respectively, in March job openings. 

As the U.S.  enters the third month of the COVID-19 crisis, the labor market continues to buckle under the virus’s prolonged impact. Glassdoor's latest Job Market Report shows that as of May 11 job openings have dropped to 4.4 million—a 28.5 percent decline since the start of March.

Even though job openings continue to decline by about 50,000 openings on a weekly basis, the rate of decline nevertheless has slowed dramatically. The rate of decline has slowed from -7.8 percent on March 23 to -1.3 percent on May 11. The deceleration signals that the labor market is not yet over the hump, but may soon begin to rebound.  However, many industries are still seeing declining  job openings as they navigate the prolonged impacts of a slowed economy, with tech (-4.0 percent), manufacturing & production (-2.9 percent) and business services (-1.5 percent) driving last week's declines. Meanwhile, 69 percent of employers had fewer job openings since early March 2020, while 14 percent of employers boosted hiring to accommodate swift shifts in demand.

In-Person Services See Slight Uptick

As states relax restrictions, businesses that rely on in-person interactions have begun to reopen. In-person services for consumers -- like retail and food services -- and for certain business services -- like private security -- have begun to reopen, increasing demand for workers. Job openings for in-person services increased 1.8% week-over-week for the first time since the coronavirus crisis began. Although this demand is likely to grow as more businesses look to reopen, these industries are still climbing out of a deep hole, as they must reverse the current 28.7 percent shortfall in job openings since early March. In short, the economy still has a very long way to go before returning to pre-crisis levels.

• Retail (+4.2 percent) and restaurants & bars (+0.2 percent) have both seen job openings increase week-over-week as states begin relaxing restrictions. While many businesses are still operating at reduced capacity or under altered conditions, the increase in hiring demand is a sign that businesses are looking to get back to work.
• Business services that require in-person work, like private security (+1.5 percent) and facilities (+1.0 percent), have seen a modest increase in job openings as businesses begin to reopen their premises. 
• Travel & tourism job openings increased 1.1 percent week-over-week. While job openings are increasing, travel & tourism is still the hardest hit industry overall, with 77.4 percent of job openings evaporating since the beginning of March.
• One prominent exception is health care & hospitals (-2.6 percent) where job openings continue to fall. While hiring demand was slow to fall in the industry as it responded to the crisis, job openings have also been slow to recover, under-performing other industries.

Job Openings Continue to Decline Across Most States

As states begin to relax restrictions, the question is how quickly will economic activity resume. Glassdoor data shows no definitive relationship between local COVID-19 outbreaks, state restrictions and state-level job openings. Instead, economic impact appears more likely driven by uncertainty and weak consumer demand.

• Both New Jersey and New York remain under stay-at-home orders, but New Jersey has actually seen job openings increase modestly month-over-month while New York has seen job openings decline 9.6 percent from the previous month, the ninth worst in the country.
• Similarly, Wyoming (-24.1 percent) and Nebraska (-3.5 percent) never implemented statewide stay-at-home orders, but appear at opposite ends of the economic spectrum.
• States that are heavily dependent on tourism and entertainment like Nevada (-9.9 percent) and Hawai'i (-9.9 percent) have been particularly hard-hit, signalling that the economic impact on states may be more due to cratering consumer demand rather than specific state policies.

States with Largest Change in Job Openings

Largest Decrease		Largest Increase
State	MoM %	State	MoM %
Wyoming	-24.1%	Massachusetts	8.3%
Vermont	-10.6%	New Hampshire	1.5%
California	-10.1%	New Jersey	1.1%
Illinois	-10.1%	Montana	-2.6%
Nevada	-9.9%	Nebraska	-3.5%
Hawai'i	-9.9%	Kansas	-3.8%
South Dakota	-9.6%	Kentucky	-3.8%
Florida	-9.6%	Indiana	-3.8%
New York	-9.6%	Rhode Island	-4.5%
Wisconsin	-9.1%	Oklahoma	-4.7%

Source: Glassdoor Job Market Report

For more detailed data on job openings trends by state, see our appendix below.

Private Data Insights Supplementing Government Data

For years, Glassdoor’s Job Market Report and other insights have helped experts better understand the shifting labor market. These real-time insights have proved a powerful supplement to government data, especially in a time of crisis when timely data is of the utmost importance. In fact, last Friday's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) release from the BLS reported a 12 percent drop in March job openings compared to February; similarly, Glassdoor’s Job Market Report shows a nearly identical 13 percent drop in the comparable timeframe. Looking forward, while the April JOLTS report will be released on June 9, Glassdoor data already shows that job openings dropped another 15 percent in April.

Conclusion

As states and leaders explore what the new normal looks like while operating amid a pandemic, some are hoping for any glimpse of an economy and job market coming back to life. While some industries like retail and food services are beginning to show signs of improving conditions, Glassdoor data shows U.S. job openings overall continue to decline and have not bottomed out quite yet. Even as states begin relaxing restrictions, the sluggish labor market is an indication that the economy isn't easily switched back on again and will take time to recover.

Methodology

The data for the selected dates is generated based on the methodology used in Glassdoor’s monthly Job Market Report, which provides a real-time view of hiring trends and wage growth across the U.S. based on millions of online jobs and salaries on Glassdoor. The data represents a snapshot of the number of job openings available on Glassdoor on the highlighted dates. Week-over-week, month-over-month and year-over-year comparisons are based on the Mondays from the comparable period. Except where otherwise noted, no additional smoothing, averaging or seasonal adjustment is performed. Because no smoothing or averaging takes place, the data may not be directly comparable to Glassdoor's monthly Job Market Report.

Appendix

Table A: Change in Job Openings by Industry

	Job Openings				Percent Change
	May 11, 2020	May 4, 2020	Apr 13, 2020	May 13, 2019
Category	Current Week	Last Week	Last Month	Last Year	Week-over-Week	Month-over-Month	Year-over-Year
Total	4,353,679	4,410,715	4,674,217	5,974,596	-1.3%	-6.9%	-27.1%
Accounting & Legal	32,063	33,630	36,435	36,006	-4.7%	-12.0%	-11.0%
Aerospace & Defense	64,146	68,399	69,573	89,145	-6.2%	-7.8%	-28.0%
Architecture & Civil Engineering	27,353	27,955	30,203	43,075	-2.2%	-9.4%	-36.5%
Arts & Entertainment	25,151	26,118	28,484	56,563	-3.7%	-11.7%	-55.5%
Automotive	61,489	60,221	70,099	96,074	2.1%	-12.3%	-36.0%
Banking & Financial Services	89,379	90,920	98,972	139,251	-1.7%	-9.7%	-35.8%
Beauty & Fitness	50,698	50,223	62,540	79,633	0.9%	-18.9%	-36.3%
Biotech & Pharmaceuticals	61,571	63,132	66,108	75,367	-2.5%	-6.9%	-18.3%
Business Services	7,285	7,036	7,291	13,107	3.5%	-0.1%	-44.4%
Computer Software & Hardware	103,885	107,687	121,486	156,716	-3.5%	-14.5%	-33.7%
Construction	52,401	52,292	52,309	75,168	0.2%	0.2%	-30.3%
Consulting	54,974	57,095	60,721	76,244	-3.7%	-9.5%	-27.9%
Consumer Electronics	6,627	6,610	7,548	11,766	0.3%	-12.2%	-43.7%
Consumer Services	10,800	10,192	10,988	14,871	6.0%	-1.7%	-27.4%
Education & Schools	169,482	172,838	183,486	251,573	-1.9%	-7.6%	-32.6%
Energy & Utilities	29,148	28,869	31,836	53,433	1.0%	-8.4%	-45.4%
Facilities	35,549	35,193	36,164	49,598	1.0%	-1.7%	-28.3%
Government	113,177	114,643	123,748	134,656	-1.3%	-8.5%	-16.0%
Health Care & Hospitals	593,913	609,612	699,502	862,584	-2.6%	-15.1%	-31.1%
Information Technology	114,541	129,502	137,350	171,009	-11.6%	-16.6%	-33.0%
Insurance	54,158	55,011	61,234	85,138	-1.6%	-11.6%	-36.4%
Internet & Tech	140,621	136,886	81,860	68,647	2.7%	71.8%	104.8%
Manufacturing	145,589	148,822	164,336	235,558	-2.2%	-11.4%	-38.2%
Marketing & Advertising	44,706	43,869	46,160	63,174	1.9%	-3.1%	-29.2%
Media & Publishing	11,752	12,140	15,290	27,668	-3.2%	-23.1%	-57.5%
Nonprofit	54,459	57,150	59,380	73,891	-4.7%	-8.3%	-26.3%
Private Security	17,415	17,151	17,204	25,586	1.5%	1.2%	-31.9%
Real Estate	39,051	41,390	41,361	49,658	-5.7%	-5.6%	-21.4%
Restaurants & Bars	439,419	434,705	438,328	520,340	1.1%	0.2%	-15.6%
Retail	326,529	313,508	352,633	452,120	4.2%	-7.4%	-27.8%
Supermarkets	83,064	82,957	84,769	90,936	0.1%	-2.0%	-8.7%
Telecommunications	23,278	23,814	26,107	39,754	-2.3%	-10.8%	-41.4%
Transportation & Logistics	199,545	207,033	214,513	412,080	-3.6%	-7.0%	-51.6%
Travel & Tourism	19,528	19,313	20,852	103,577	1.1%	-6.3%	-81.1%
Wholesale	16,464	16,301	17,661	31,321	1.0%	-6.8%	-47.4%

Source: Glassdoor Job Market Report, May 20, 2020

Table B: Change in Job Openings by Industry Group

	Job Openings				Percent Change
	May 11, 2020	May 4, 2020	Apr 13, 2020	May 13, 2019
Category	Current Week	Last Week	Last Month	Last Year	Week-over-Week	Month-over-Month	Year-over-Year
Total	4,353,679	4,410,715	4,674,217	5,974,596	-1.3%	-6.9%	-27.1%
Business Services	156,443	158,781	167,811	214,117	-1.5%	-6.8%	-26.9%
Construction & Real Estate Services	154,354	156,830	160,037	217,499	-1.6%	-3.6%	-29.0%
Consumer Services	202,696	202,021	234,360	418,140	0.3%	-13.5%	-51.5%
Finance & Insurance	143,537	145,931	160,206	224,389	-1.6%	-10.4%	-36.0%
Food Services	439,419	434,705	438,328	520,340	1.1%	0.2%	-15.6%
Health Care	655,484	672,744	765,610	937,951	-2.6%	-14.4%	-30.1%
Production	247,553	254,840	274,868	388,032	-2.9%	-9.9%	-36.2%
Public Services	337,118	344,631	366,614	460,120	-2.2%	-8.0%	-26.7%
Retail	416,220	403,075	444,950	554,822	3.3%	-6.5%	-25.0%
Tech	359,047	374,075	340,696	396,372	-4.0%	5.4%	-9.4%
Trade & Transportation	216,009	223,334	232,174	443,401	-3.3%	-7.0%	-51.3%

Source: Glassdoor Job Market Report, May 20, 2020

Table C: Change in Job Openings by State

	Job Openings				Percent Change
	May 11, 2020	May 4, 2020	Apr 13, 2020	May 13, 2019
Category	Current Week	Last Week	Last Month	Last Year	Week-over-Week	Month-over-Month	Year-over-Year
Total	4,353,679	4,410,715	4,674,217	5,974,596	-1.3%	-6.9%	-27.1%
Remote	8,106	8,058	8,304	8,588	0.6%	-2.4%	-5.6%
AK	9,079	9,193	9,909	12,255	-1.2%	-8.4%	-25.9%
AL	58,811	59,124	62,311	81,106	-0.5%	-5.6%	-27.5%
AR	31,462	32,003	33,568	43,304	-1.7%	-6.3%	-27.3%
AZ	87,643	88,925	94,074	123,540	-1.4%	-6.8%	-29.1%
CA	465,474	472,328	517,906	655,899	-1.5%	-10.1%	-29.0%
CO	90,613	92,663	96,607	131,226	-2.2%	-6.2%	-30.9%
CT	50,944	52,073	55,398	66,367	-2.2%	-8.0%	-23.2%
DC	34,414	34,941	37,728	44,329	-1.5%	-8.8%	-22.4%
DE	15,918	16,074	16,811	19,113	-1.0%	-5.3%	-16.7%
FL	224,898	225,759	248,745	314,219	-0.4%	-9.6%	-28.4%
GA	137,548	141,046	149,410	203,665	-2.5%	-7.9%	-32.5%
HI	12,305	12,589	13,655	19,245	-2.3%	-9.9%	-36.1%
IA	44,326	44,290	46,940	64,257	0.1%	-5.6%	-31.0%
ID	17,275	17,026	18,238	22,574	1.5%	-5.3%	-23.5%
IL	176,343	181,223	196,078	260,870	-2.7%	-10.1%	-32.4%
IN	94,514	95,583	98,266	123,551	-1.1%	-3.8%	-23.5%
KS	40,553	40,356	42,141	53,757	0.5%	-3.8%	-24.6%
KY	58,074	58,531	60,357	73,111	-0.8%	-3.8%	-20.6%
LA	47,491	47,774	50,727	62,941	-0.6%	-6.4%	-24.5%
MA	160,443	168,021	148,131	191,880	-4.5%	8.3%	-16.4%
MD	104,878	107,577	111,899	133,899	-2.5%	-6.3%	-21.7%
ME	21,367	21,070	22,572	26,787	1.4%	-5.3%	-20.2%
MI	116,469	115,962	124,111	151,825	0.4%	-6.2%	-23.3%
MN	77,989	79,979	83,850	114,523	-2.5%	-7.0%	-31.9%
MO	80,316	81,408	87,604	114,634	-1.3%	-8.3%	-29.9%
MS	29,879	30,589	32,161	38,399	-2.3%	-7.1%	-22.2%
MT	12,607	12,545	12,944	17,020	0.5%	-2.6%	-25.9%
NC	144,690	146,068	155,980	207,899	-0.9%	-7.2%	-30.4%
ND	11,676	11,846	12,726	16,336	-1.4%	-8.3%	-28.5%
NE	26,088	26,163	27,023	33,252	-0.3%	-3.5%	-21.5%
NH	26,207	24,491	25,813	32,602	7.0%	1.5%	-19.6%
NJ	136,735	134,250	135,252	149,499	1.9%	1.1%	-8.5%
NM	31,387	31,292	33,039	39,670	0.3%	-5.0%	-20.9%
NV	32,819	33,044	36,436	49,284	-0.7%	-9.9%	-33.4%
NY	217,853	221,705	240,870	304,976	-1.7%	-9.6%	-28.6%
OH	151,952	157,023	162,523	208,928	-3.2%	-6.5%	-27.3%
OK	43,001	43,289	45,130	58,888	-0.7%	-4.7%	-27.0%
OR	48,741	48,785	53,078	70,694	-0.1%	-8.2%	-31.1%
PA	200,243	201,430	210,555	236,332	-0.6%	-4.9%	-15.3%
RI	15,978	16,537	16,731	19,361	-3.4%	-4.5%	-17.5%
SC	68,130	68,091	72,499	91,177	0.1%	-6.0%	-25.3%
SD	12,917	12,993	14,287	16,651	-0.6%	-9.6%	-22.4%
TN	87,405	88,896	94,357	126,207	-1.7%	-7.4%	-30.7%
TX	319,636	323,971	349,286	466,422	-1.3%	-8.5%	-31.5%
UT	37,476	37,420	39,574	52,441	0.1%	-5.3%	-28.5%
VA	147,718	149,388	162,337	197,000	-1.1%	-9.0%	-25.0%
VT	10,045	10,214	11,230	13,193	-1.7%	-10.6%	-23.9%
WA	112,416	113,772	119,564	151,710	-1.2%	-6.0%	-25.9%
WI	80,027	82,212	88,007	113,298	-2.7%	-9.1%	-29.4%
WV	27,354	27,140	29,119	29,811	0.8%	-6.1%	-8.2%
WY	9,264	10,010	12,203	12,760	-7.5%	-24.1%	-27.4%

Source: Glassdoor Job Market Report, May 20, 2020

Table D: Change in Job Openings for Select Metropolitan Areas

	Job Openings				Percent Change
	May 11, 2020	May 4, 2020	Apr 13, 2020	May 13, 2019
Category	Current Week	Last Week	Last Month	Last Year	Week-over-Week	Month-over-Month	Year-over-Year
Total	4,353,679	4,410,715	4,674,217	5,974,596	-1.3%	-6.9%	-27.1%
Atlanta, GA	81,091	84,172	89,729	129,878	-3.7%	-9.6%	-37.6%
Boston, MA	128,569	134,703	116,888	156,525	-4.6%	10.0%	-17.9%
Chicago, IL	138,319	142,557	153,112	201,892	-3.0%	-9.7%	-31.5%
Houston, TX	64,892	67,033	72,121	95,503	-3.2%	-10.0%	-32.1%
Los Angeles, CA	145,534	149,352	163,837	212,403	-2.6%	-11.2%	-31.5%
New York City, NY	244,114	244,234	254,606	306,862	0.0%	-4.1%	-20.4%
Philadelphia, PA	85,038	88,906	91,477	113,658	-4.4%	-7.0%	-25.2%
San Francisco, CA	102,588	102,919	114,351	147,131	-0.3%	-10.3%	-30.3%
Seattle, WA	82,165	83,254	87,007	113,869	-1.3%	-5.6%	-27.8%
Washington, DC	142,186	144,298	153,421	184,277	-1.5%	-7.3%	-22.8%

Source: Glassdoor Job Market Report, May 20, 2020