Weekly Hourly Hiring Report 8/31/21

How COVID-19 is affecting hourly work

Weekly Hourly Hiring Report 8/31/21

Highlights

Overall jobs are up 86% compared to pre-pandemic norms, with 19% month over month growth and 86% year over year growth. Google searches for hourly jobs are flat year over year.

September could be a turning point in the tight labor market. As employers and economists watch to see whether next week’s expiration of expanded federal unemployment benefits and a return to in-person school will lead more workers to apply to open positions, one thing is certain—the pandemic labor market doesn’t always respond as expected.

• An estimated 7.5 million Americans will lose all of their unemployment benefits this coming Saturday, September 4.

• The start of the school year was expected to bring relief for parents struggling with child care, but the surge of the Delta variant has forced school districts to postpone their return to the classroom, and several sources estimate at least 90,000 children have already had to isolate due to COVID-19 exposure.

• With the holidays just around the corner and 58% of employers planning to hire specifically for the season, while 42% of hourly workers are looking for seasonal work.

The spread of the Delta variant continues to impact economic recovery.

• Consumer confidence fell to a six-month low in August as concerns about COVID-19 and inflation loom. While fewer households intended to buy big-ticket items, the number of consumers still planning to go on vacations rose, with most expecting to travel domestically and many intending to fly.

• Three in five respondents to the National Restaurant Association's recent survey said they changed the way they spend money and eat at restaurants because of the Delta variant, such as ordering takeout and delivery instead of eating on site.

More employers are requiring vaccinations.

• Verifying the vaccine status of job applicants takes time, but many employers are finding the resources to include this in the hiring process.

• Some employers not requiring vaccinations are taking the opposite tact by penalizing workers who don’t comply— Delta airlines recently announced that unvaccinated employees will pay an additional $200/month for the company health plan, starting in November.

Jobs

All industry data is from 3/2/20-8/30/21

Here are the latest job numbers by industry:

Quick service restaurant (QSR) jobs are down 20% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 1% month over month growth and 8% year over year growth.

Sit-down restaurant jobs are down 40% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 6% month over month decline and 11% year over year growth.

Warehouse and logistics jobs are up 274% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 47% month over month growth and a 484% year over year decline.

Retail jobs are flat compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 5% month over month decline and 20% year over year growth.

Grocery jobs are up 84% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 5% month over month growth and 65% year over year growth.

Hospitality jobs are up 312% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing a 10% month over month decline and 360% year over year growth.

On demand jobs are up 211% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 40% month over month growth and 215% year over year growth.

Convenience store jobs are down 5% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 9% month over month growth and 11% year over year growth.

Healthcare jobs are up 122% compared to pre-pandemic norms, seeing 14% month over month growth and 101% year over year growth.

Workers

Google searches for hourly jobs are flat 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.