Spring 2025 Hiring Among Oregon’s Private Employers Unchanged from Winter 2025

July 24, 2025

Each quarter, the Oregon Employment Department surveys private employers from all industries and areas of the state to ask about the job vacancies they are actively trying to fill. Oregon businesses reported 51,000 vacancies in spring 2025. Vacancies stayed flat from the winter and decreased 12% from spring 2024. After reaching elevated levels of close to 100,000 job vacancies in spring 2021 through summer 2022 in the rapid hiring following pandemic re-openings, spring 2025 had the second-lowest level of job vacancies in Oregon since summer 2020.

As of April 2025, there were 7.1 million private-sector job openings in the United States, as measured by the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, and 6.8 million people were unemployed, resulting in a U.S. ratio of about 1.0 unemployed people per job opening. This is the 17th straight quarter at or below a ratio of 1.0. The number of private-sector job openings in the U.S. peaked at 11.5 million in April 2022. Since spring of 2021, openings have met or exceeded the previous high of 7.0 million seen in April 2019.

There were 90,000 unemployed Oregonians in April 2025 and 51,000 job vacancies, leaving roughly 1.8 unemployed persons for every job opening. As job vacancies in Oregon have fallen since the record high peaks and unemployment has continued at a low level since late 2021, Oregon’s unemployed-to-job vacancy ratio has been slowly increasing.

Most Oregon openings in spring 2025 were for full-time, permanent positions. Education beyond high school was required for 32% of spring vacancies. Prior work experience was required for 62% of vacancies, up from 57% in spring 2024. Employers reported a majority of their vacancies as difficult to fill, accounting for 58% of vacancies in spring 2025.

The average starting wage among this group of vacancies was $28.38 per hour, an inflation-adjusted increase of 6% from spring 2024, and an 11% increase from winter 2025. The number of vacancies offering a starting wage below $20 per hour decreased 11% over the year. The number of vacancies offering between $20 and $30 per hour decreased 16% and vacancies paying above $30 per hour decreased 3%.

Hiring demand existed throughout different industries and occupations, though it was concentrated in the private health care and social assistance industry. Ten out of 14 major sectors were hiring for more than 2,000 positions at any given time in spring 2025. Health care and social assistance represented over one-fifth of all spring vacancies, with 11,100 vacancies. The professional, scientific, and technical services industry followed with 6,800 vacancies.

Employers reported vacancies in 200 different occupations. The occupation groups with the most vacancies in spring 2025 were installation, maintenance, and repair (5,500), production (4,500), and food preparation and serving (4,500) occupations. Detailed occupations reported most frequently included personal care aides, retail salespersons, and fast food and counter workers.

Spring vacancies were distributed across the state, with the Portland Tri-County area (Portland-Metro and Clackamas County, combined) accounting for nearly half (47%). Over the year changes in vacancies varied across the state. Portland-Metro vacancies grew the fastest over the year (+13%) while Lane County vacancies declined by 42%. 

More details about Oregon Job Vacancies are available on QualityInfo.org, on the publications page under Job Vacancy Survey.