Fall 2024 Hiring Among Oregon’s Private Employers Drops to Lowest Level Since 2020

January 30, 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 49,900 vacancies in fall 2024. Vacancies decreased 18% from the summer and decreased 23% from fall 2023. 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, fall 2024 is the lowest level of job vacancies seen in Oregon since summer 2020 and the lowest fall level since 2015.

As of October 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 6.6 million people were unemployed, resulting in a U.S. ratio of under 1.0 unemployed people per job opening. This is the 15th straight quarter at or below a ratio of 1.0. 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 exceeded the previous high of 7.0 million seen in April 2019.

There were 85,300 unemployed Oregonians in October 2024 and 49,900 job vacancies, leaving roughly 1.7 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 the fall were for full-time, permanent positions. Education beyond high school was required for 39% of fall vacancies. Prior work experience was required for 61% of vacancies, up from 57% in fall 2023. Employers reported a majority of their vacancies as difficult to fill, accounting for 63% of vacancies in fall 2024.

The average starting wage among this group of vacancies was $26.50 per hour, an inflation-adjusted increase of 1% from fall 2023, and a 3% increase from summer 2024. The number of vacancies offering a starting wage below $20 per hour decreased 19% over the year. The number of vacancies offering between $20 and $30 per hour decreased 18%, and vacancies paying above $30 per hour decreased 15%.

Hiring demand existed throughout different industries and occupations, though it was concentrated in the private health care and social assistance industry. Eleven out of 14 major sectors were hiring for more than 2,000 positions at any given time in fall 2024. Health care and social assistance represented over a quarter of all fall vacancies, with 13,500 vacancies. The professional, scientific, and technical services industry followed with 6,700 vacancies.

Employers reported vacancies in nearly 200 different occupations. The occupation groups with the most vacancies in fall 2024 were health care practitioners and technical (5,500), transportation and material moving (5,200), and health care support (4,900) occupations. Detailed occupations reported most frequently included registered nurses, stockers and order fillers, and personal care aides.

Fall vacancies were distributed across the state, with the Portland tri-county area accounting for about 45%. Vacancies decreased over the year in every region of the state, except in Clackamas County.

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