Quarterly Industry Report: Jobs & Job Seekers – Q4 2020 [Report]

At long last, the fourth quarter of 2020 has arrived. For the U.S. labor market, this year has been a wild ride, as COVID-19 has impacted almost every sector and the economy at large. However, job numbers have risen – slowly but surely – since June 2020, according to our job and job seeker databases. In fact, iHire’s platform comprised more than 2.5 million active jobs in early October.

Although some industries remained relatively stagnant in Q3 (for example, culinary and construction), others (such as nursing and logistics) showed robust growth. Here are notable job industry trends from iHire's Q3 2020 report:

• Job postings rise: From June to September 2020, the number of job postings added to iHire’s platform rose in six out of the 10 industries we analyzed. iHireNursing and iHireLogistics experienced the biggest jumps, with 85,319 and 106,022 more postings, respectively, in September versus June.

• Home-based and travel healthcare positions continue to trend: The growth of nursing positions is due in part to an increase in home-based healthcare jobs. In Q3, “home health aide” was the No. 2 career title on iHireNursing. Additionally, Healthcare Traveler Jobs and NurseFly Traveling Nursing were among the companies with the most postings. 

• Culinary industry still struggles: Although culinary postings are up since the start of the COVID-19 lockdowns, jobs on iHireChefs remained relatively stagnant from June to September 2020, averaging around 44,000 new jobs per month.

• Tech jobs stay solid: iHireTechnology saw minimal turbulence this year, as the number of job postings added per month never dipped below 161,149. Moreover, a total of 566,780 tech jobs were added in Q3 2020. Naturally, the technology sector is faring COVID-19 better than others, since many jobs can be done remotely.

• Job seekers aren’t as “active” heading into Q4: Every industry we analyzed experienced a slight decrease in the percentage of job seekers indicating that they are actively seeking a job. This suggests that unemployment rates are declining.

For a look back at 2020 job numbers from our most popular talent communities, check out our Q1, Q2, and Q3 reports.

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