Job Openings Down 1.5% Week-over-Week, Slowing Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

The current economic situation is rapidly evolving as the novel coronavirus outbreak continues to spread. In a time of uncertainty and fast-changing events, economic data can quickly become obsolete. It’s more critical  than ever to have the latest insights on how current events are shaping the economy today. In this special edition of Glassdoor’s typically monthly Job Market Report, we analyze early evidence of how the labor market is responding to the coronavirus outbreak, based on job openings on Glassdoor. Already in the last few weeks, our research has provided some of the first quantitative evidence of increased public health hiring and employee sentiment in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Job openings are declining modestly week-over-week, according to Glassdoor data. As of Friday March 13, job openings decreased 1.5 percent week-over-week from March 6. As the chart below shows, job openings were steadily increasing in the first two months of the year, before reversing course at the beginning of March. The increase in job openings in early 2020 gives the labor market some buffer against an outbreak-induced slowdown. However, a sustained slowdown in job openings would be a long-term risk to the labor market and the broader economy.

Why Does a 1.5 Percent Decline Matter?

It might seem unusual that job openings are only declining 1.5 percent week-over-week amid extreme volatility in the stock market, rapidly shifting behavior from consumers and increasingly aggressive actions by government entities. But for context, a 1.5 percent week-over-week decline now is equivalent to 89,000 fewer job openings, a substantial dip for just one week. According to Glassdoor data, a decline that large is already in the slowest 10 percent of weeks by job openings growth since the beginning of 2016. Additionally, in healthy economic times, weekly declines in job openings are normally followed by a snapback in the following week. But given the rapidly evolving outbreak, that seems unlikely today. A similarly sized drop over the next four weeks would compound into 356,000 fewer openings available for Americans, the worst monthly decline in the last four years. Overall, it's still unclear what the outbreak’s impact will be on job openings in the long run. Even if affected companies post fewer new job openings, unfilled job openings may stay open longer as companies take time to adapt their hiring processes during the outbreak. This may result in little net change to the stock of job openings despite large changes to the flows. Employers might also be especially hesitant, after the historically  competitive labor market of recent years, to pull back on hiring after experiencing years of labor shortages. That's reflected in the actions taken by some companies, like United, which has asked workers to volunteer for temporary leave instead of laying them off directly. As further evidence, we've seen some employers on Glassdoor ask candidates to continue applying even though interviewing has been temporarily paused. Ultimately, while some companies may pull back on hiring or even lay off workers in the face of the outbreak, the aggregate economic data on Glassdoor suggests that demand for workers slowed only modestly last week. The upswing in job openings prior to the outbreak provides some buffer against ongoing headwinds, but a prolonged slowdown would risk spilling over to the rest of the labor market.

Industry Trends in Job Openings

Despite overall job openings changing modestly, the picture does change at the industry level.

• Travel & tourism (-17.7 percent) is showing signs of drastic decline as heightened caution and travel restrictions hit the industry. Similarly, arts & entertainment job openings (-4.6 percent) have declined as shows are cancelled and parks are closed.
• However, restaurants & bars (-1.0 percent) and retail (-1.3 percent) had not yet felt as large an immediate impact by the end of last week. However, with local governments increasingly considering closing down restaurants and stores, the situation may deteriorate quickly for those industries.
• Manufacturing (-0.6 percent) showed a small decline last week. While supply chain disruptions may affect downstream manufacturers, job openings have remained steady. Additionally, manufacturing has been buffeted by trade headwinds for over a year now and is now lapping periods of weakness from one year prior. If job openings hold steady through the end of the month, manufacturing will have recorded its smallest year-over-year decline since Feb 2019.
• Transportation & logistics (+12.9 percent) has rebounded. Data for the industry has been volatile from week-to-week as it's buffeted by both headwinds and tailwinds. Delivery services and a shift to e-commerce in the face of the outbreak are increasing demand for workers at the same time that a slowdown in manufacturing overseas is slowing imports to the U.S. For example, Amazon has announced that it would hire an additional 100,000 workers to handle increased demand during the outbreak.
• Openings in the tech industries (+0.5 percent) remain relatively flat, despite the prominent outbreaks in California and Washington—homes to major American tech hubs. Quick action from tech employers, the flexibility to allow their employees to work remotely, and the ability to adapt business processes quickly (e.g., conducting  interviews remotely) may have allowed tech job openings to skirt immediate impact from the outbreak.

Table 1: Job Openings Growth for Select Industries

	Job Openings				Percent Change
	Mar 13, 2020	Mar 6, 2020	Feb 14, 2020	Mar 15, 2019
Category	Current Week	Last Week	Last Month	Last Year	Week-over-Week	Month-over-Month	Year-over-Year
Total	5,851,420	5,940,122	5,893,878	5,808,636	-1.5%	-0.7%	0.7%
Arts & Entertainment	54,800	57,439	56,574	56,247	-4.6%	-3.1%	-2.6%
Manufacturing	234,306	235,804	235,470	241,180	-0.6%	-0.5%	-2.9%
Restaurants & Bars	511,968	517,361	517,865	458,135	-1.0%	-1.1%	11.8%
Retail	458,969	464,871	445,772	465,022	-1.3%	3.0%	-1.3%
Tech*	424,510	422,520	445,348	435,484	0.5%	-4.7%	-2.5%
Transportation & Logistics	292,482	259,077	272,646	373,608	12.9%	7.3%	-21.7%
Travel & Tourism	70,305	85,459	86,974	105,270	-17.7%	-19.2%	-33.2%

*"Tech" is a group of three industries: "Computer Software & Hardware", "Information Technology" and "Internet & Tech"

Source: Glassdoor Job Market Report

To see job openings growth for all industries, please refer to the appendix at the bottom of this post.

Geographic Trends in Job Openings

• Job openings in California (+0.6 percent) remain relatively unaffected, despite declines in Washington (-3.7 percent) and New York (-2.5 percent). In particular, job openings in the San Francisco, CA (+0.7 percent) and San Jose, CA (-0.1 percent) metro areas are holding up while they decline in Seattle, WA (-4.2 percent) and New York City, NY (-2.7 percent).
• Remote job openings declined 0.6 percent week-over-week, less than the national average and on top of a 24 percent year-over-year increase. As the coronavirus outbreak forces companies to consider remote work arrangements, demand for remote workers is likely to be less affected by the effects of the outbreak.

Table 2: Job Openings Growth for Select Geographic Areas

	Job Openings				Percent Change
	Mar 13, 2020	Mar 6, 2020	Feb 14, 2020	Mar 15, 2019
Category	Current Week	Last Week	Last Month	Last Year	Week-over-Week	Month-over-Month	Year-over-Year
Total	5,851,420	5,940,122	5,893,878	5,808,636	-1.5%	-0.7%	0.7%
CA	674,177	670,046	663,433	663,777	0.6%	1.6%	1.6%
NY	294,434	301,952	298,266	296,791	-2.5%	-1.3%	-0.8%
WA	177,672	184,410	153,138	146,175	-3.7%	16.0%	21.5%
Remote	9,344	9,402	9,400	7,537	-0.6%	-0.6%	24.0%
New York City, NY	302,296	310,629	306,722	304,365	-2.7%	-1.4%	-0.7%
San Francisco, CA	152,682	151,549	145,784	149,895	0.7%	4.7%	1.9%
San Jose, CA	73,970	74,031	75,130	74,219	-0.1%	-1.5%	-0.3%
Seattle, WA	133,754	139,585	113,540	110,720	-4.2%	17.8%	20.8%

Source: Glassdoor Job Market Report

To see job openings growth for all geographic areas we track, please refer to the appendix at the bottom of this post.

Conclusion

In fast-changing economic times, private data can be a powerful supplement to the standard reports produced by the federal government. These staple reports are the gold standard for consistency and comparability over time, but when economic conditions are shifting rapidly, private data from online platforms like Glassdoor can provide early hints as to how the labor market is trending while government data is still being collected and processed. In today's tumultuous environment, Glassdoor's data is suggesting that the labor market is slowing but not tumbling. However, if declines in job openings continue as the outbreak worsens, a more dramatic slowdown in the labor market is possible. This post is a continuation of our analysis on the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. To read our previous posts, please click here (Part 1, Part 2). For any questions or to speak with our Economic Research team, please contact pr at glassdoor.com.

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 online jobs and salaries on Glassdoor. The data represents a snapshot of the number of job openings available on Glassdoor on the given dates. The historical dates are the comparable Fridays from the previous week, previous month and previous year. 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—the March edition of which will be released on Tuesday, March 31, 2020 at 9:00 AM EDT.

Appendix

The following data is also available as an Excel file at this link.

Table A: Job Openings Growth by Industry

		Job Openings				Percent Change
		Mar 13, 2020	Mar 6, 2020	Feb 14, 2020	Mar 15, 2019
Report	Category	Current Week	Last Week	Last Month	Last Year	Week-over-Week	Month-over-Month	Year-over-Year
Total	Total	5,851,420	5,940,122	5,893,878	5,808,636	-1.5%	-0.7%	0.7%
Industry	Accounting & Legal	48,432	49,011	48,497	64,798	-1.2%	-0.1%	-25.3%
Industry	Aerospace & Defense	81,479	82,350	94,579	90,474	-1.1%	-13.9%	-9.9%
Industry	Architecture & Civil Engineering	43,061	43,586	64,295	45,380	-1.2%	-33.0%	-5.1%
Industry	Arts & Entertainment	54,800	57,439	56,574	56,247	-4.6%	-3.1%	-2.6%
Industry	Automotive	96,064	96,804	97,584	86,986	-0.8%	-1.6%	10.4%
Industry	Banking & Financial Services	138,454	140,171	137,834	131,939	-1.2%	0.4%	4.9%
Industry	Beauty & Fitness	79,024	82,586	80,372	74,348	-4.3%	-1.7%	6.3%
Industry	Biotech & Pharmaceuticals	80,020	81,989	82,778	76,377	-2.4%	-3.3%	4.8%
Industry	Business Services	10,335	10,509	11,031	14,055	-1.7%	-6.3%	-26.5%
Industry	Computer Software & Hardware	179,440	176,519	165,671	157,202	1.7%	8.3%	14.1%
Industry	Construction	68,626	68,546	67,707	73,078	0.1%	1.4%	-6.1%
Industry	Consulting	79,376	79,544	77,761	77,728	-0.2%	2.1%	2.1%
Industry	Consumer Electronics	7,313	7,375	7,145	59,565	-0.8%	2.4%	-87.7%
Industry	Consumer Services	14,867	14,715	14,519	14,612	1.0%	2.4%	1.7%
Industry	Education & Schools	219,953	222,153	217,074	229,028	-1.0%	1.3%	-4.0%
Industry	Energy & Utilities	46,271	47,324	48,386	59,608	-2.2%	-4.4%	-22.4%
Industry	Facilities	52,924	53,582	46,724	45,073	-1.2%	13.3%	17.4%
Industry	Farming & Agriculture	10,060	10,329	10,307	9,991	-2.6%	-2.4%	0.7%
Industry	Government	137,332	140,574	150,594	112,948	-2.3%	-8.8%	21.6%
Industry	Health Care & Hospitals	826,469	834,960	825,310	854,568	-1.0%	0.1%	-3.3%
Industry	Information Technology	159,119	162,799	218,750	200,025	-2.3%	-27.3%	-20.5%
Industry	Insurance	76,819	77,207	78,761	88,728	-0.5%	-2.5%	-13.4%
Industry	Internet & Tech	85,951	83,202	60,927	78,257	3.3%	41.1%	9.8%
Industry	Manufacturing	234,306	235,804	235,470	241,180	-0.6%	-0.5%	-2.9%
Industry	Marketing & Advertising	63,248	64,924	59,833	61,362	-2.6%	5.7%	3.1%
Industry	Media & Publishing	24,721	25,914	27,113	28,303	-4.6%	-8.8%	-12.7%
Industry	Nonprofit	71,803	73,148	71,139	69,504	-1.8%	0.9%	3.3%
Industry	Private Security	24,692	24,243	23,840	27,188	1.9%	3.6%	-9.2%
Industry	Real Estate	50,784	53,120	50,600	49,499	-4.4%	0.4%	2.6%
Industry	Restaurants & Bars	511,968	517,361	517,865	458,135	-1.0%	-1.1%	11.8%
Industry	Retail	458,969	464,871	445,772	465,022	-1.3%	3.0%	-1.3%
Industry	Supermarkets	91,223	91,340	90,117	89,189	-0.1%	1.2%	2.3%
Industry	Telecommunications	36,878	37,396	39,428	39,967	-1.4%	-6.5%	-7.7%
Industry	Transportation & Logistics	292,482	259,077	272,646	373,608	12.9%	7.3%	-21.7%
Industry	Travel & Tourism	70,305	85,459	86,974	105,270	-17.7%	-19.2%	-33.2%
Industry	Wholesale	29,968	30,272	30,296	31,656	-1.0%	-1.1%	-5.3%

Source: Glassdoor Job Market Report

Table B: Job Openings Growth by Industry Group

		Job Openings				Percent Change
		Mar 13, 2020	Mar 6, 2020	Feb 14, 2020	Mar 15, 2019
Report	Category	Current Week	Last Week	Last Month	Last Year	Week-over-Week	Month-over-Month	Year-over-Year
Total	Total	5,851,420	5,940,122	5,893,878	5,808,636	-1.5%	-0.7%	0.7%
Industry Group	Business Services	226,083	228,231	220,962	245,131	-0.9%	2.3%	-7.8%
Industry Group	Production	372,116	375,807	388,742	401,253	-1.0%	-4.3%	-7.3%
Industry Group	Construction & Real Estate Services	215,395	218,834	229,326	213,030	-1.6%	-6.1%	1.1%
Industry Group	Consumer Services	376,659	400,313	402,564	405,733	-5.9%	-6.4%	-7.2%
Industry Group	Finance & Insurance	215,273	217,378	216,595	220,667	-1.0%	-0.6%	-2.4%
Industry Group	Health Care	906,489	916,949	908,088	930,945	-1.1%	-0.2%	-2.6%
Industry Group	Tech	424,510	422,520	445,348	435,484	0.5%	-4.7%	-2.5%
Industry Group	Retail	557,505	563,586	543,034	613,776	-1.1%	2.7%	-9.2%
Industry Group	Public Services	429,088	435,875	438,807	411,480	-1.6%	-2.2%	4.3%
Industry Group	Food Services	511,968	517,361	517,865	458,135	-1.0%	-1.1%	11.8%
Industry Group	Trade & Transportation	322,450	289,349	302,942	405,264	11.4%	6.4%	-20.4%

Source: Glassdoor Job Market Report

Table C: Job Openings Growth by Employer Size

		Job Openings				Percent Change
		Mar 13, 2020	Mar 6, 2020	Feb 14, 2020	Mar 15, 2019
Report	Category	Current Week	Last Week	Last Month	Last Year	Week-over-Week	Month-over-Month	Year-over-Year
Total	Total	5,851,420	5,940,122	5,893,878	5,808,636	-1.5%	-0.7%	0.7%
Employer_Size	1001-5000	919,050	936,200	994,682	1,000,435	-1.8%	-7.6%	-8.1%
Employer_Size	201-500	498,629	496,980	505,496	475,801	0.3%	-1.4%	4.8%
Employer_Size	5000+	2,539,369	2,563,030	2,494,716	2,518,462	-0.9%	1.8%	0.8%
Employer_Size	501-1000	336,044	336,947	327,264	346,644	-0.3%	2.7%	-3.1%
Employer_Size	51-200	532,389	542,869	541,346	495,887	-1.9%	-1.7%	7.4%
Employer_Size	<51	580,045	581,288	589,194	508,615	-0.2%	-1.6%	14.0%

Source: Glassdoor Job Market Report

Table D: Job Openings Growth by State

		Job Openings				Percent Change
		Mar 13, 2020	Mar 6, 2020	Feb 14, 2020	Mar 15, 2019
Report	Category	Current Week	Last Week	Last Month	Last Year	Week-over-Week	Month-over-Month	Year-over-Year
Total	Total	5,851,420	5,940,122	5,893,878	5,808,636	-1.5%	-0.7%	0.7%
State	AK	11,718	12,202	12,248	10,900	-4.0%	-4.3%	7.5%
State	AL	71,335	73,003	77,006	77,754	-2.3%	-7.4%	-8.3%
State	AR	38,836	39,955	39,554	39,611	-2.8%	-1.8%	-2.0%
State	AZ	119,715	123,407	119,410	117,220	-3.0%	0.3%	2.1%
State	CA	674,177	670,046	663,433	663,777	0.6%	1.6%	1.6%
State	CO	127,877	129,721	126,730	121,890	-1.4%	0.9%	4.9%
State	CT	67,708	69,691	68,589	65,149	-2.8%	-1.3%	3.9%
State	DC	45,400	46,430	47,151	45,352	-2.2%	-3.7%	0.1%
State	DE	19,919	20,274	20,011	18,808	-1.8%	-0.5%	5.9%
State	FL	324,810	331,098	330,821	308,884	-1.9%	-1.8%	5.2%
State	GA	182,421	185,989	184,664	195,583	-1.9%	-1.2%	-6.7%
State	HI	17,573	18,540	18,432	18,095	-5.2%	-4.7%	-2.9%
State	IA	54,714	56,301	57,333	62,142	-2.8%	-4.6%	-12.0%
State	ID	22,276	22,761	22,679	20,916	-2.1%	-1.8%	6.5%
State	IL	241,710	246,200	248,281	262,438	-1.8%	-2.6%	-7.9%
State	IN	115,979	120,242	121,110	120,369	-3.5%	-4.2%	-3.6%
State	KS	51,620	52,685	52,527	52,318	-2.0%	-1.7%	-1.3%
State	KY	71,188	72,053	72,616	69,291	-1.2%	-2.0%	2.7%
State	LA	60,215	61,892	62,914	62,221	-2.7%	-4.3%	-3.2%
State	MA	189,318	189,180	185,072	182,134	0.1%	2.3%	3.9%
State	MD	128,310	131,107	131,858	127,320	-2.1%	-2.7%	0.8%
State	ME	24,693	25,191	26,211	23,392	-2.0%	-5.8%	5.6%
State	MI	151,890	155,418	156,335	149,283	-2.3%	-2.8%	1.7%
State	MN	108,899	111,510	110,750	110,840	-2.3%	-1.7%	-1.8%
State	MO	108,122	109,956	109,868	109,137	-1.7%	-1.6%	-0.9%
State	MS	36,303	37,095	37,528	35,759	-2.1%	-3.3%	1.5%
State	MT	14,864	14,660	22,482	14,733	1.4%	-33.9%	0.9%
State	NC	189,224	193,222	193,370	200,293	-2.1%	-2.1%	-5.5%
State	ND	15,527	15,801	16,112	15,323	-1.7%	-3.6%	1.3%
State	NE	31,954	32,494	32,972	32,157	-1.7%	-3.1%	-0.6%
State	NH	31,946	30,155	31,355	30,195	5.9%	1.9%	5.8%
State	NJ	150,396	153,908	151,735	145,737	-2.3%	-0.9%	3.2%
State	NM	38,435	39,675	39,056	34,883	-3.1%	-1.6%	10.2%
State	NV	47,333	50,516	48,506	45,615	-6.3%	-2.4%	3.8%
State	NY	294,434	301,952	298,266	296,791	-2.5%	-1.3%	-0.8%
State	OH	203,486	209,282	209,665	201,065	-2.8%	-2.9%	1.2%
State	OK	55,365	56,969	57,583	57,043	-2.8%	-3.9%	-2.9%
State	OR	68,446	70,808	69,224	66,787	-3.3%	-1.1%	2.5%
State	PA	278,660	286,971	272,776	228,643	-2.9%	2.2%	21.9%
State	RI	20,073	20,447	19,936	17,972	-1.8%	0.7%	11.7%
State	Remote	9,344	9,402	9,400	7,537	-0.6%	-0.6%	24.0%
State	SC	86,798	88,640	89,207	88,248	-2.1%	-2.7%	-1.6%
State	SD	16,192	16,406	16,730	15,848	-1.3%	-3.2%	2.2%
State	TN	116,963	119,636	118,632	118,743	-2.2%	-1.4%	-1.5%
State	TX	469,874	450,631	450,154	457,014	4.3%	4.4%	2.8%
State	UT	52,208	53,161	52,484	50,238	-1.8%	-0.5%	3.9%
State	VA	190,979	194,907	193,179	188,129	-2.0%	-1.1%	1.5%
State	VT	13,538	13,733	13,860	11,926	-1.4%	-2.3%	13.5%
State	WA	177,672	184,410	153,138	146,175	-3.7%	16.0%	21.5%
State	WI	110,592	112,967	112,598	111,040	-2.1%	-1.8%	-0.4%
State	WV	32,555	34,540	35,143	28,158	-5.7%	-7.4%	15.6%
State	WY	11,447	11,740	11,929	11,263	-2.5%	-4.0%	1.6%

Source: Glassdoor Job Market Report

Table E: Job Openings Growth for Select Metros

		Job Openings				Percent Change
		Mar 13, 2020	Mar 6, 2020	Feb 14, 2020	Mar 15, 2019
Report	Category	Current Week	Last Week	Last Month	Last Year	Week-over-Week	Month-over-Month	Year-over-Year
Total	Total	5,851,420	5,940,122	5,893,878	5,808,636	-1.5%	-0.7%	0.7%
Metro	Atlanta, GA	114,243	116,942	115,026	126,020	-2.3%	-0.7%	-9.3%
Metro	Austin, TX	56,824	56,223	55,127	52,306	1.1%	3.1%	8.6%
Metro	Boston, MA	153,986	152,565	148,839	147,273	0.9%	3.5%	4.6%
Metro	Chicago, IL	193,314	197,389	195,649	205,864	-2.1%	-1.2%	-6.1%
Metro	Denver, CO	76,629	78,353	76,369	73,500	-2.2%	0.3%	4.3%
Metro	Houston, TX	96,751	95,755	96,050	95,816	1.0%	0.7%	1.0%
Metro	Los Angeles, CA	213,752	215,175	212,558	215,570	-0.7%	0.6%	-0.8%
Metro	New York City, NY	302,296	310,629	306,722	304,365	-2.7%	-1.4%	-0.7%
Metro	Philadelphia, PA	117,210	122,433	117,653	110,301	-4.3%	-0.4%	6.3%
Metro	San Francisco, CA	152,682	151,549	145,784	149,895	0.7%	4.7%	1.9%
Metro	San Jose, CA	73,970	74,031	75,130	74,219	-0.1%	-1.5%	-0.3%
Metro	Seattle, WA	133,754	139,585	113,540	110,720	-4.2%	17.8%	20.8%
Metro	Washington, DC	180,368	183,979	183,500	177,177	-2.0%	-1.7%	1.8%

Source: Glassdoor Job Market Report