Summer 2024 Hiring Among Oregon’s Private Employers

October 24, 2024

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 61,000 vacancies in summer 2024. Vacancies increased 6% from the spring and decreased 13% from summer 2023. The number of vacancies is close to levels seen prior to the pandemic, 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.

The number of private-sector job openings in the U.S. peaked at 11.4 million in April 2022. Since spring of 2021, openings have significantly exceeded the previous high of 7.0 million seen in April 2019. As of July 2024, there were 7.4 million private-sector job openings in the United States, as measured by the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, and 7.7 million people were unemployed, resulting in a U.S. ratio of 1.0 unemployed people per job opening. This is the 14th straight quarter at or below a ratio of 1.0.

In July 2024, there were 96,200 unemployed Oregonians and there were 61,000 job vacancies, leaving 1.6 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 openings in the summer were for full-time, permanent positions. Education beyond high school was required for 40% of summer vacancies. Prior work experience was required for 53% of vacancies, down from 66% in summer 2023. Employers reported a majority of their vacancies as difficult to fill, accounting for 51% of vacancies in summer 2024, down from 57% in summer 2023.

The average starting wage among this group of vacancies was $25.55 per hour, an inflation-adjusted increase of 4% from summer 2023 and a 2% decrease from spring 2024. Overall, vacancies decreased 13% from summer 2023. The number of vacancies offering a starting wage below $20 per hour decreased 35% over the year. The number of vacancies offering between $20 and $30 per hour decreased 22%, and vacancies paying above $30 per hour decreased 12%.

Hiring demand was widespread throughout industries and occupations. Eleven out of 14 major sectors were hiring for more than 1,000 positions at any given time in spring 2024. Health care and social assistance represented 42% of all summer vacancies, with 25,400 vacancies. Retail trade followed with 7,000 vacancies.  

Employers reported vacancies in 250 different occupations. The occupation groups with the most vacancies in summer 2024 were health care practitioners and technical (7,600), health care support (5,800), and transportation and material moving (5,300) occupations. Detailed occupations reported most frequently included preschool teachers, registered nurses, and business operations specialists.

Summer vacancies were distributed across the state, with the Portland tri-county area accounting for about 46%. Vacancies decreased over the year in every region of the state, except in the Lane and Eastern Oregon areas.

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