By Katie Merritt, Senior Research and Data Manager, Robert Half
Job growth in the U.S. remains steady compared with the past year, according to research conducted for the midyear update of Robert Half’s Demand for Skilled Talent report. Companies are consistently hiring over 5.5 million workers each month, and over half of employers (52%) at organizations of all sizes report that they’re recruiting talent for new roles, mostly to support company growth.
Meanwhile, job openings remain historically high as companies seek talent to support critical initiatives, but many employers are struggling to find skilled candidates available for hire. Eighty-six percent of U.S. hiring managers report difficulty locating talent — with three in 10 (30%) saying it is very challenging.
The Demand for Skilled Talent report highlights the latest data from Robert Half surveys of hiring managers and our analysis of a proprietary dataset of more than 3.5 million job postings, including 60,000 Robert Half placements. It is intended to help hiring managers make informed staffing decisions.
This post takes a deeper dive into our newly updated report. It provides an overview of key industries that are likely to recruit talent in the second half of 2024, and jobs expected to be in high demand.
What industries are hiring right now?
The government, education services, manufacturing and distribution, and healthcare industries demonstrated strong annual job growth in the first half of 2024. These industries are poised to continue offering consistent employment opportunities throughout the second half of 2024.
The business and professional services, finance and insurance, tech and IT, and consumer products industries together contributed nearly 1.3 million new positions to the U.S. economy in the first half of 2024 (+1,272,900 jobs).
The professional services, finance and insurance, and technology industries saw declines in job growth in the first half of 2024, compared with the same period in 2023. However, they have still contributed over 745,000 jobs to the U.S. economy in the first half of this year.
The business services industry had the most job openings in the first six months of 2024 (873,800) compared with all other industries that Robert Half supports with our talent solutions.
Thirty-four percent of job openings in business and professional services were in technology, 21% were in finance and accounting, and 20% were in administrative and customer support.
Here’s a look by functional area at some top roles employers were recruiting for in the first half of 2024:
Tech and IT
Senior software engineer (+43,700 jobs)Software engineer/developer (+31,600 jobs)Systems administrator (+13,100 jobs)Systems engineer (+12,600 jobs)
Finance and accounting
Accounting clerk (+11,900 jobs)Staff accountant – general accounting (+11,600 jobs)Accounts payable specialist (+8,400 jobs)
Administrative and customer support
Customer service specialist (+34,500 jobs)Administrative assistant (+30,000 jobs)Receptionist (+14,200 jobs)Project manager (+13,900 jobs)
Consumer products was the fifth-largest industry contributing to the job market in the first half of 2024, with 148,700 openings. That is a significant increase from the first half of 2023 (+55%).
Administrative and customer support roles made up nearly 40% of the new professional openings within this industry, totaling nearly 54,400 jobs. Other prominent roles in the consumer products space included:
Senior software engineer (+5,700 jobs)Software engineer/developer (+3,600 jobs)Product manager – technology (+2,000 jobs)
Universities and educational organizations recruited talent for 71,000 job openings in the U.S. in the first half of 2024. That marks a +74% increase from 2022, building on three consecutive quarters of year-on-year job opening growth from the first half of 2023.
These jobs were predominately in administrative and customer support (34%), followed by technology (18%), finance and accounting (15%), and marketing and creative (13%). However, technology jobs saw a small decrease from the first half of 2023 (-4%).
The most in-demand jobs in the education services industry in the first six months of 2024 included:
Administrative assistant (+8,600 jobs)Executive assistant (+2,100 jobs)Project assistant/coordinator (+1,900 jobs)
Employers in the financial services industry recruited talent for 154,300 jobs in the first half of 2024, a 56% increase from the first half of 2023. Despite fewer job opportunities in most functional areas, demand within marketing departments among companies in the financial sector did not decline.
Thirty percent of the jobs in this industry were specifically in finance and accounting functions, while 28% were in technology, and 18% were in administrative and customer support.
The most in-demand finance and accounting jobs in the financial sector included:
Senior financial analyst (+2,400 jobs)Mortgage processor (+2,000 jobs)
Many employers in the finance and insurance industry were also hiring tech and IT professionals. Roles in high demand included:
Senior software engineer (+9,200 jobs)Software engineer/developer (+3,600 jobs)Senior consultant (+2,100 jobs)
The government industry — or public sector — added 80,500 jobs in the U.S. in the first half of 2024. The largest share of these jobs was in administrative and customer support (25%), followed by finance and accounting (24%), human resources (15%), and technology (15%).
Government entities were particularly focused on hiring for the following roles in these functional areas:
Administrative, customer support and human resources
Administrative assistant (+8,500 jobs)Human resources specialist (+6,600 jobs)Customer service specialist (+1,500 jobs)
Finance and accounting
Accounting clerk (+1,400 jobs)Procurement specialist (+1,400 jobs)
Many organizations in the government sector were also recruiting for tech and IT positions, including:
Telecommunications specialist (+1,500 jobs)Systems analyst – technology (+1,200 jobs)
Among the professional roles that Robert Half places in the healthcare industry, there were 186,600 new job openings added in the U.S. in the first half of this year.
The bulk of these jobs were in administrative and healthcare areas, including:
Medical receptionist (+23,600 jobs)Medical front desk coordinator (+13,800 jobs)Administrative assistant (+10,100 jobs)Patient access/services specialist (+9,400 jobs)
Among the professional roles that Robert Half places in the manufacturing industry, there were over 213,300 new job openings added in the U.S. in the first six months of 2024. These jobs were primarily in companies’ technology (30%), administrative and customer support (23%), and finance and accounting (17%) departments.
The following roles were in particular demand in the manufacturing industry:
Software engineer (+21,100 jobs)Software engineer/developer (+9,500 jobs)Senior software engineer (+9,400 jobs)Medical customer service specialist (+5,600 jobs)Administrative assistant (+4,800 jobs)
The technology industry recruited talent for 96,100 jobs in the first half of 2024, a 55% increase from the same period in 2023. Companies in the technology sector primarily hired for their technology (41%) and marketing and creative (21%) functions.
The following technology and marketing and creative roles were in especially high demand in the technology industry:
Senior software engineer (+8,000 jobs)Software engineer/developer (+6,000 jobs)Product manager – technology (+1,900 jobs)Product marketing manager (+1,800 jobs)Senior consultant (+1,600 jobs)Marketing manager (+1,600 jobs)
We know from our latest research for the Demand for Skilled Talent report that many employers in the U.S. have plans to hire, but another trend may work against their recruitment goals: Only 35% of U.S. workers we surveyed said they plan to look for a new job during the second half of 2024 — down from 49% who had similar plans during the same period last year.
For tips on how to overcome hiring challenges in the current labor market, plus more data on U.S. hiring and employment trends in 2024, read the full midyear update of our Demand for Skilled Talent report.
Industry calculations are based on job postings provided by Textkernel. Positions are categorized into more than 450 job titles within Robert Half’s 2024 Salary Guide using a proprietary mapping methodology that employs state-of-the-art large language models. This dataset includes roles across the finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, administrative and customer support, human resources, and healthcare support professions.
