Weekly Hourly Hiring Report 4/7/20

How COVID-19 is affecting hourly work

In less than a month, COVID-19 has changed the world. Social distancing and government mandates to stay home have altered consumer behavior in sudden, unprecedented ways. While we’re all in this together, we’re also all impacted differently from a business perspective.

Navigating the hourly hiring landscape during this pandemic is new to all of us. At Snagajob, we have a unique perspective on hourly job trends because of our proprietary data—and it shows us how both workers and employers are responding in real-time. One of the most valuable things we can offer you right now is a view into these insights and critical hourly hiring trends. This way, you have the context you need as you make unprecedented business decisions to manage the economic impact of COVID-19. 

In the Weekly Hourly Hiring Report, we’ll give you the highlights so you can get a high-level view of hourly hiring. 

Highlights

JOBS: The spike in demand for grocery store and warehousing jobs is starting to recede now that those roles are being filled.

WORKERS: Even as unemployment spikes, fewer workers are searching for and applying to jobs. 

Jobs

• Hourly jobs are down 45% since their peak at the beginning of March. The number of jobs has held steady over the last week as businesses adapt to the new normal.
  

  

• The strong jobs growth in the logistics, warehousing and grocery sectors are receding from their mid-March levels as employers in those industries fill their staffing needs. 

• Unsurprisingly, there are sharp declines in hard-hit industries like hospitality (-60%) and restaurant (-45%). 

• After seeing a 43% increase in the beginning of March, gig jobs have also seen a sharp decline of 75%.

Workers

• Despite 10 million unemployment claims in the last two weeks, fewer workers are searching for hourly jobs. Google searches for “part-time jobs” and “full-time jobs” are down ~50% since March 1—this is likely driven by worker safety concerns, the belief that layoffs will be shorter than usual and enhanced unemployment benefits.

• While searches are down, applications for jobs in cleaning (+383%), warehousing (+53%), grocery (+42%) and gig (+23%) are all up since March 1, which reflects broader hiring trends.

The bottom line

This data is counter-intuitive to what we normally see in a recession, which only reinforces the unique and challenging situation this pandemic has put us all in. We’re keeping a close eye on the situation so we can show you the trends and insights that will help you make informed decisions in this uncertain time.