By Katie Merritt, Research and Data Manager, Robert Half

It’s difficult to predict with certainty what hiring will look like overall in 2023. However, trends such as the long-term embrace of flexible work, ongoing structural shifts in the economy and the ever-quickening pace of digital transformation all have considerable implications for hiring managers and employees alike.

Multiple early indicators suggest that U.S. hiring in 2023 may not be as sluggish as some analysts had predicted — this despite slowing job growth in the third quarter of 2022 compared with the first half of last year. Consider the following:

  • According to Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLTS) data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 11 million jobs were sitting open in the United States at the end of December.
     
  • Despite a spate of layoffs in recent months, especially in the tech sector, the unemployment rate in January was 3.4% — the lowest it’s been in over 50 years.
     
  • Survey data from Robert Half suggests companies are planning to expand in 2023, especially among midsize companies, with technology and finance and accounting departments having the greatest full-time staffing needs.

Where the growth is so far in 2023 — and what the top jobs are

So, what’s driving payroll expansion — where is it happening the most, and for what types of roles? The latest edition of Robert Half’s Demand for Skilled Talent report* helps to answer these questions.

Here are some highlights based on 8 million positions posted on more than 1,000 independent job boards and company websites.

Major cities driving growth in Q4 2022:

  • San Diego: 30%
  • Miami: 28%
  • Dallas: 26%
  • Washington, D.C.: 26%

Industries with the greatest quarter-over-quarter growth in Q4 2022:

  • Government: 37%
  • Healthcare and social assistance: 24%
  • Professional services: 23%
  • Administrative services: 22%
  • Finance: 21%

Top jobs with quarter-over-quarter growth in Q4 2022:

  • Budget analysts: 71%
  • Finance managers: 58%
  • Compensation and benefits managers: 42%
  • Database administrators: 28%
  • Office managers: 26%

The hiring environment likely will remain tight in 2023, but opportunities are out there

Although not as robust as in December, job postings in January were stronger than in October and November. And the latest BLS data shows that, as of February, there are two available jobs for every unemployed person.

Not only is this unprecedented, but this trend also suggests we’ll continue to have stable growth in the current quarter. Even if layoffs continue in the tech sector, there’s plenty of appetite from many other types of businesses to hire available talent (as demonstrated above).

You can check out the latest Demand for Skilled Talent report right now on the Robert Half website. Also, stay tuned to the Robert Half Blog for future posts highlighting 2023 hiring trends from our report.

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*Report methodology: Our analysis is based on various data-complementary sources such as job posting data from thousands of company websites and job boards, specialized unemployment rates, and Robert Half placement data.

Follow Katie Merritt on LinkedIn.