US Job Advertisements Crater During Second Half of March
Demand for US jobs among Russell 3000 companies fell dramatically during the last two weeks of March as companies began taking actions as a result of Covid-19. This is according to labor market intelligence firm Greenwich.HR, which tracks hiring and pay behaviors.
‘In the second half of March, the bottom fell out of hiring,’ Says Kevin Moldestad, COO of Greenwich.HR. “March began extremely strong, with job advertisements on track to exceed February levels by up to 50 percent. But as companies began shuttering operations due to Covid-19, hiring demand dropped sharply.’
The number of new job advertisements in the week ending March 28 was down 60 percent compared to week ending March 7. Overall, job advertisements during March ended down 5% compared to February. All sectors except finance saw declines for the entire month, led by Oil and Energy, which was down 14%.
‘It’s one thing to know companies are pulling back, but these numbers paint a particularly grim picture,’ Said Cary Sparrow, CEO of Greenwich.HR. ‘The market is reacting to a fast-changing situation, and we can expect to see hiring demand drop even further as layoffs and furloughs continue. But, when the situation begins to stabilize, we expect to see the strongest companies quickly resume hiring.’
March 2020 Weekly Job Advertisements
March 2020 Changes in Open Job Advertisements
This analysis is based on job listing data from all Russell 3000 companies. It includes data from over 3.6 million US job listings which were open during March 2020, February 2020, and March 2019. Greenwich.HR tracks the hiring and pay behaviors of over 2.9 million organizations.
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