Weekly Hourly Hiring Report 4/20/21

How COVID-19 is affecting hourly work

Weekly Hourly Hiring Report 4/20/21

Highlights

Overall jobs are up 63% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 16% month over month growth and 109% year over year growth.

Last week we saw new unemployment claims unexpectedly break below 665,000 for the first time in more than a year. This decline in jobless claims indicates at long last, the economic recovery appears to be picking up speed. 

But the job market remains tight and for most employers filling positions is challenging. Many companies are expanding their benefits offering to attract and retain employees in a fiercely competitive environment. 

Walmart plans to move two-thirds of its hourly jobs to full-time positions by January 31. Drew Holler, Walmart’s Senior Vice President of U.S. People Operations, is quoted saying, “we know offering more full–time opportunities along with skills training and equipping associates with tools to make work easier will help us continue to attract and retain top talent.”

Other businesses are using tuition reimbursement and education benefits to attract talent. Chipotle just announced a partnership with Guild Education to offer debt-free degrees in Agriculture, Culinary and Hospital to its employees.

Businesses can offer a range of employee benefits to stay competitive – flexible hours and scheduling, increased pay, vaccination incentives, employee discounts and training, to name a few.  In our recent survey, we found that the top three benefits employers are offering include: flexible hours and scheduling (89%), employee discounts (76%) and job skills development and training (54%).

Jobs

All industry data is from 3/2/20-4/19/21

Here are the latest job numbers by industry:

Quick service restaurant (QSR) jobs are down 28% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 1% month over month growth and a 2% year over year decline.

Sit-down restaurant jobs are down 32% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 4% month over month growth and 37% year over year growth.

Warehouse and logistics jobs are up 220% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 79% month over month growth and 16% year over year growth.

Retail jobs are down 17% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 10% month over month growth and 17% year over year growth.

Grocery jobs are up 25% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 6% month over month growth and 21% year over year growth.

Hospitality jobs are up 140% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 64% month over month growth and 206% year over year growth.

On demand jobs are up 161% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 23% month over month growth and 230% year over year growth.

Convenience store jobs are down 29% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 3% month over month growth and a 5% year over year decline.

Healthcare jobs are up 57% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 30% month over month growth and 67% year over year growth.

Workers

Google searches for part-time jobs are up 37% year over year.

The bottom line

We’ll continue to be your best resource for hourly job market insights as we collectively navigate towards our new normal and beyond.