Sure, you’ve experienced some high highs. The era of the Great Resignation and zero interest rates meant that corporate America was practically handing out jobs — and big pay raises, to boot.
But that era is long gone. Interest rates are up, mass layoffs have roiled some industries, and raises are far more paltry. Now, the release of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest employment report puts a final nail in the coffin. While skilled vocational trades like health services and construction were both big drivers of job gains in August, sectors like information, which encompasses tech and white-collar fields, haven’t fared as well.
“A couple years ago, every industry was growing really quickly, and there’s all these great opportunities across the board,” Nick Bunker, the economic research director for North America at the Indeed Hiring Lab, told Business Insider.
But that’s not the case anymore.
With the cooler labor market, Bunker said that there isn’t a “clear industry” where you can argue that there will be much more job growth. And so-called laptop jobs — the kind where workers can theoretically log in from anywhere — are particularly imperiled. Roland Hesmondhalgh, a 32-year-old in Virginia with a master’s degree, previously told BI that he’s stuck in between being overqualified for roles he applies to and still not landing interviews.
“It does feel like we’re on this two-track labor market,” Aaron Terrazas, chief economist at Glassdoor, told BI ahead of the latest employment report release. The demand for frontline work is still there, he said, and there are still challenges in filling those positions as well as skilled vocational trades roles.
“That’s the opposite case when it comes to skilled knowledge work, white collar office work or home office work — there is a lot more labor supply there and a lot softer demand,” Terrazas added.
Job openings in the information sector fell by over 40,000 from July 2023 to July 2024; in July 2023, the job opening rate in information was 5%. By July 2024, it had tumbled to 3.6%. And while job openings did fall in sectors like construction and healthcare, the total number of openings still far exceeded those for information roles.
This tells us that the market for white-collar workers is a stayer’s, not a seeker’s, market.
“This is a labor market where if you have a job you like, you’re in a pretty good position,” Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, said. “If you don’t have a job, if you’re a new grad, finding a job is actually unusually difficult — especially in the private sector outside of healthcare.”
Are you having trouble finding a white-collar job? Contact these reporters at jkaplan@businessinsider.com and mhoff@businessinsider.com.
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