What Does The Job Market Look Like For 2020? Indeed Data Sheds Some Light

The U.S. saw an increase of over 400,000 jobs in May from April's historic lows. With unemployment still in the double digits, and topping 20% in some states, you might wonder more about the jobs that are being created.

We turned to Indeed Hiring Lab to answer this question.

Who’s Impacted the Most: Lower-wage workers have been seeing the most layoffs.

Specific fields such as leisure and hospitality have been hit the hardest. Indeed said health care jobs by new postings have also fallen.

High-wage workers who are seeking employment may see issues getting into high-wage roles. Postings in higher-wage occupations are now 35% below trend, versus 21% below trend for lower-wage occupations.

Software development postings are 37.2% below last year’s trend, and banking and finance job postings are down 47.3%.

What Job Increases? The share of postings per million people for jobs related to reopening has been steadily increasing, Indeed economist AnnElizabeth Konkel said in an email.

As of June 29, the share of cleaner-related postings has risen 26% since May 1. During the same time frame, temperature taker job postings saw an increase of 66%, while contact tracing postings increased a staggering 1473%.

Jobs related to driving and retail are also steadily increasing, with job postings almost back to 2019’s trends, according to Indeed job posting data.

Major retailers such as Target TGT, Kroger KR and CVS CVS have announced massive hiring efforts with the promise of higher starting wages.

The largest rebound in postings are coming in small metropolitan and rural areas, according to Indeed. 

What’s Next: Konkel did point out that some of these new jobs, such as temperature taker, do not require a college degree.

This creates a two-edged sword. The tendency is for jobs that have lower educational requirements to be lower wage, and low-wage jobs have been hit hardest during coronavirus. And these jobs may not be long term replacements if a worker is permanently laid off.

While some industries are bringing back workers or taking on new workers, future job growth will continue to depend on the response to the virus and patterns that develop with openings.