Review of Online Job Seeking and Searching Trends Reveals Opportunities and Challenges for Workers and Employers

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Aug 24, 2022, 07:00 ET

BENTONVILLE, Ark., Aug. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Heartland Forward released its latest report, Scrolling for Jobs: A Look at Online Activity in Regional Labor Markets. Authored by Senior Economist Julie Trivitt, the report analyzes occupational and geographic patterns in job search activities alongside state-level data to determine which features of state labor markets are most closely associated with the measures of online job search activity.

"The patterns and characteristics identified in the data can help business leaders and policymakers more accurately assess their labor markets and make decisions likely to foster economic growth," Trivitt said. "By analyzing the supply and demand of workers and jobs during the peak of the pandemic recession, we are able to provide insight into what policies may contribute to vibrant online labor markets."

Findings:

Occupation matters more than location when predicting online job activity in a particular region: For example, accountants in any region post resumes in similar numbers, whether in Mississippi or Montana. Likewise, teachers in Texas and North Dakota behave similarly. The differences in rates at which job ads and resumes are posted online across occupations provides some clues about how well regional labor markets are working and which occupations may benefit from additional tools to facilitate job searches.
Online postings of resumes and job ads vary by location. After adjusting for the region's occupations and their online job search patterns, metro areas generally have more online job search activity than non-metro areas, but the difference is greater for resume postings than job ads. The differences in the rates at which job ads and resumes are posted provides insights into where labor markets may be out of balance – in other words, where they have more people looking for new opportunities than job openings.
Internet access influences how much online job search activity takes place in a given area. States with more internet infrastructure have higher rates of online job ads, but interestingly, more resume posts show up in states where more people face challenges accessing high speed internet at home.
Public health issues and policies during the pandemic also shaped online job search activities. For example, states where cities, employers, schools and other local institutions were free to determine the mask or vaccine policies for themselves had higher rates of job ads posted.