The hiring trends that defined us a year ago – both widespread layoffs and painful worker shortages, depending on your industry – haven’t gone away in this year.
Specifically, in health care and manufacturing, the talent shortage persists, while tech and journalism continue to see job cuts.
Employers Have Responded, Adjusted
With a little perspective on yearly trends, we can take a look at how employers have responded and adjusted most recently.
Based on the data we gathered from 41.4 million unique job postings throughout the year and media reports of the job market, here’s a look at how hiring teams are adjusting this year.
Trend 1: Demand for salary transparency
Last year, the number of job listings that included salary data increased by 38% (from 24% of vacancies in January to 33% in December). This was driven largely by listings in California, Washington and New York state, where salary transparency laws took effect.
Of note is that while salary transparency was most common in states that mandate it, transparency increased in every state. That’s telling, especially in a year where many analysts suggested some of the power that workers held during the Great Resignation returned to employers.
Increased transparency doesn’t just benefit job seekers though. According to our data, job listings that include salary data can get filled between 12% and 25% faster (depending on the industry) than those that don’t.
Response: Salary transparency remains popular this year, and new research suggests there’s a right way to do it: Include salary ranges in job listings rather than making applicants ask. This promotes equity, according to a recent study by the National Women’s Law Center.
Trend 2: Workers value flexible work
Remote vacancies decreased by 11% in 2023, from a year-high of 3.8 percent of all openings in January, to a low of 3% in November.
The change is no surprise to anyone who paid attention to the return to office (RTO) mandates in much of the economy. But it also represents a big opportunity for employers not yet offering remote work – especially those looking for a way to manage costs.
Here’s why: Among those currently working hybrid positions, 32% would accept a pay cut in exchange for a fully remote position. That’s almost a third! On average, these workers would accept an 18% salary reduction to be free of commuting. And no wonder: Mean distance from the workplace has nearly tripled since pre-pandemic (from 10 miles to 27), per a new report.
It’s also important to highlight that remote work is a very small part of the U.S. workforce. Only 3% of jobs are advertised as remote. Even if the actual number is double or triple that, it still means that more than 90% of the workforce is either back in the office, or was always in the workplace. For instance, consider Amazon warehouse jobs or Walmart store jobs.
Response: Even if you’re not ready to go fully remote, there’s opportunity here if your workers’ jobs aren’t location-dependent. Workers who report to the office every
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