by Tim O'Neill
June 2023
As the Seven-County Metro Area's labor market continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and recession, hiring demand across the region continues to remain near historic highs. According to the Department of Employment and Economic Development's (DEED) Job Vacancy Survey (JVS), Metro Area employers reported over 98,300 job vacancies in 2022. While down 20.2% from record levels in 2021, the number of job vacancies reported in the Metro Area in 2022 represent the third largest number of job vacancies since the JVS began in 2001. It's clear that there is continued strong demand for workers across the region. This article will highlight DEED's most recent JVS data for the Metro Area, including recent trends and hiring characteristics.
Hiring demand is high in the Metro Area. This is especially so when we consider long-term hiring trends in the region. Hiring demand in the Metro Area hit its lowest point during the Great Recession in 2009, when employers reported just over 15,000 job vacancies. Coupled with nearly 114,000 unemployed persons, the region had about eight unemployed persons for every job vacancy at that time. Throughout the following decade, job vacancies steadily increased while the number of unemployed persons steadily decreased. By 2019 employers in the region reported just over 86,000 job vacancies for about 52,000 unemployed persons. The labor market was tight, with about two job vacancies for every unemployed person (Figure 1).
COVID-19 dramatically impacted the Metro Area's labor market in 2020. In the spring months of that year the number of job vacancies declined by 23.4% to about 65,900 vacancies. At the same time, the number of unemployed persons spiked by 243.1% to about 178,100 unemployed. The region's labor market swung from 0.6 unemployed persons per job vacancy to 2.7 unemployed persons per job vacancy within one year.
But the labor market swung right back. Between the spring months of 2020 and 2021, the number of job vacancies in the Metro Area increased by 81.4% to about 119,500 vacancies. The number of such vacancies would increase further to about 126,900 vacancies during the winter months of 2021. At the same time the number of unemployed persons dropped significantly, resulting in about 0.5 unemployed persons per job vacancy. The region had quickly returned to tight labor market conditions.
Again, between 2021 and 2022 the number of job vacancies in the Metro Area dropped by 20.2%, from an average of about 123,200 job vacancies in 2021 to about 98,300 job vacancies in 2022. Meanwhile the number of unemployed persons continued to drop from about 61,800 in 2021 to 40,700 in 2022. With 0.4 unemployed persons per job vacancy the Metro Area's tight labor market persisted in 2022.
Beyond revealing high hiring demand and continued tight labor market conditions in the Metro Area, DEED's JVS also reveals hiring characteristics. For example, of the region's total 98,330 job vacancies, 36% were for part-time work revealing that most employers are offering full-time positions. Meanwhile, 32% of total vacancies require some level of post-secondary education. Broken down even further, 34% of total vacancies required no formal education, 29% required a high school diploma or equivalent, 7% required vocational training, 8% required an Associate degree, and 23% required a bachelor's degree or more. Further, DEED's JVS reveals that 54% of the Metro Area's total job vacancies required one or more years of work experience, 39% required a certificate or license, and the median hourly wage offer was $19.96 (Table 1).
Note that the Metro Area's median hourly wage offer for the total of all job vacancies, at $19.96, was 11.8% higher than the median hourly wage offer the previous year. This median wage offer exceeded the hourly wage needed to meet the basic needs cost of living in the Metro for an individual with no children, at $18.05. It was slightly below the hourly wage needed, however, for each adult earner in a typical family of three, at $21.70.1
DEED's JVS data also reveal industry and occupational detail. In 2022 those industries with the most job vacancies in the Metro Area were Health Care and Social Assistance (25,444 job vacancies), Retail Trade (12,944 job vacancies), and Accommodation and Food Services (12,771 job vacancies). Together these three major industries accounted for over half (52.0%) of the region's total job vacancies. Health Care and Social Assistance, alone, accounted for over one-quarter (25.9%) of the region's total job vacancies. Other industries with a high number of job vacancies included Manufacturing, Professional and Technical Services, Educational Services, Finance and Insurance, and Wholesale Trade
| Table 1. Metro Area Job Vacancies by Major Industry, 2022 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industry Sector | Number of Job Vacancies | Job Vacancy Rate | Median Wage Offer | Part Time Share | Req. Post-Secondary Education | Req. Work Experience |
| Total, All Industries | 98,330 | 6.0 | $19.96 | 36 | 38 | 54 |
| Health Care and Social Assistance | 25,433 | 9.2 | $21.06 | 51 | 54 | 56 |
| Retail Trade | 12,944 | 8.4 | $16.03 | 48 | 7 | 32 |
| Accommodation and Food Services | 12,771 | 11.6 | $16.34 | 40 | 1 | 34 |
| Manufacturing | 9,077 | 5.4 | $24.61 | 11 | 30 | 67 |
| Professional and Technical Services | 6,640 | 5.5 | $31.50 | 13 | 74 | 87 |
| Educational Services | 5,713 | 4.3 | $20.82 | 35 | 75 | 77 |
| Finance and Insurance | 4,885 | 4.3 | $43.01 | 8 | 63 | 98 |
| Wholesale Trade | 4,129 | 5.5 | $22.85 | 6 | 59 | 79 |
| Administrative and Waste Services | 3,222 | 6.7 | $18.13 | 32 | 8 | 14 |
| Transportation and Warehousing | 2,808 | 4.1 | $20.38 | 34 | 21 | 38 |
| Other Services | 2,425 | 5.1 | $15.06 | 61 | 23 | 19 |
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing | 1,892 | 7.2 | $13.90 | 72 | 12 | 11 |
| Management of Companies | 1,703 | 2.2 | $37.51 | 21 | 74 | 94 |
| Construction | 1,500 | 1.9 | $21.34 | 1 | 21 | 52 |
| Public Administration | 1,319 | 1.9 | $24.41 | 16 | 39 | 68 |
| Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation | 1,100 | 4.0 | $16.99 | 52 | 16 | 49 |
| Information | 661 | 2.2 | $26.30 | 16 | 61 | 89 |
| Utilities | 71 | 1.1 | $31.78 | 0 | 63 | 99 |
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting | 32 | 0.8 | $15.76 | 3 | 6 | 31 |
| Source: DEED Job Vacancy Survey | ||||||
Single-handedly accounting for over one-quarter of the Metro Area's total job vacancies, Health Care and Social Assistance deserves special emphasis. While slightly down from its peak number of job vacancies in 2021, the more than 25,400 job vacancies in this industry in 2022 is up by more than 75% from 2017. Essentially, the current demand for workers in healthcare is extreme.
Note that Health Care and Social Assistance includes a wide variety of occupations. Of course, there is high demand for personal care aides, registered nurses, nursing assistants, and other healthcare practitioner and healthcare support occupations. But there is also high demand for Office and Administrative Support Occupations, Community and Social Service Occupations, Management Occupations, Personal Care and Service Occupations, Food Preparation and Serving Occupations, and more. The entry points into Health Care and Social Assistance, as well as the educational and career pathways available, are countless.
Beyond industries, which are comprised of a variety of different types of occupations, DEED's JVS data also allow users to view specific occupations. Healthcare occupations are broken down into two distinct occupational groups: Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations and Healthcare Support Occupations. Together, these two occupational groups accounted for just over 20,000 job vacancies in the Metro Area in 2022. These two groups are comprised of very different occupations. For example, 84% of Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations job vacancies require post-secondary education, with an overall median wage offer of $29.63. Meanwhile, 47% of Healthcare Support Occupations require postsecondary education, with an overall median wage offer of $16.00 (Table 2).
| Table 2. Metro Area Healthcare Job Vacancies, 2022 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Occupational Title | Number of Job Vacancies | Job Vacancy Rate | Median Wage Offer | Part Time Share | Req. Post-Secondary Education | Req. Work Experience |
| Total, All Occupations | 98,330 | 6.0 | $19.96 | 36% | 38% | 16% |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | 11,408 | 10.9 | $29.63 | 60% | 84% | 68% |
| Healthcare Support Occupations | 8,641 | 8.8 | $16.00 | 47% | 19% | 20% |
| Personal Care Aides | 3,744 | N/A | $14.98 | 46% | 2% | 11% |
| Registered Nurses | 3,444 | 8.8 | $33.69 | 68% | 99% | 76% |
| Nursing Assistants | 2,594 | 22.8 | $16.99 | 55% | 31% | 22% |
| Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses | 1,553 | 23.1 | $25.01 | 66% | 100% | 51% |
| Pharmacy Technicians | 1,060 | 25.9 | $20.51 | 70% | 2% | 35% |
| Home Health Aides | 715 | N/A | $15.75 | 31% | 10% | 10% |
| Medical Assistants | 678 | 10.4 | $19.32 | 53% | 40% | 60% |
| Pharmacists | 509 | 13.6 | $38.41 | 64% | 100% | 83% |
| Veterinary Technologists and Technicians | 473 | 21.5 | $21.49 | 31% | 85% | 63% |
| Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians | 432 | 10.7 | $25.76 | 61% | 67% | 87% |
| Source: DEED Job Vacancy Survey | ||||||
As previously mentioned, those healthcare occupations with the most job vacancies in the Metro Area include Personal Care Aides, Registered Nurses, and Nursing Assistants. Together these three occupations accounted for nearly 9,800 job vacancies in 2022, or nearly half of all the job vacancies between Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations and Healthcare Support Occupations. Other occupations with a lot of job vacancies in these two groups include Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses, Pharmacy Technicians, Home Health Aides, Medical Assistants, Pharmacists, Veterinary Technologists and Technicians, and Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians.
Analyzing DEED's JVS data, it's easy to solely look at the number of job vacancies reported. The job vacancy rate, however, reveals a more complete picture of hiring demand. Essentially, the job vacancy rate is the percent of job vacancies relative to all filled jobs in the occupation. A high vacancy rate indicates a relatively strong demand for a particular occupation. A job vacancy rate is considered high if it's above the job vacancy rate for all occupations. In the Metro Area in 2022 the job vacancy rate for all occupations was 6.0%. Those healthcare occupations with very high job vacancy rates included Pharmacy Aides, Radiologists, Neurologists, Dietetic Technicians, Massage Therapists, Pharmacy Technicians, Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses, Nursing Assistants, Ophthalmologists, Veterinary Technologists and Technicians, Emergency Medical Technicians, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists. Each of these occupations had a job vacancy rate of over 20.0%. Zooming out, there were nearly 50 healthcare occupations with a high job vacancy rate of over 6.0%.
The data from DEED's JVS are clear, the demand for workers in Health Care and Social Assistance is high. This is also true for those specific occupations within Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations and Healthcare Support Occupations.
With over 98,300 job vacancies, the Metro Area accounted for just over half (53.0%) of Minnesota's total 184,600 jobs vacancies in 2022. Certain occupational groups, however, have much higher concentrations of hiring demand in the Metro Area than in Greater Minnesota. At the top for this concentrated hiring demand includes Computer and Mathematical Occupations and Business and Financial Operations Occupations. Both of these occupational groups have more than 80% of their respective statewide job vacancies located in the Metro Area. Zooming out, those occupational groups with between two-thirds and three-quarters of their respective statewide job vacancies located in the Metro Area include Architecture and Engineering Occupations, Management Occupations, Internships, and Apprenticeships (Table 3).
Those occupational groups with a high concentration of job vacancies in the Metro Area typically have higher median hourly wage offers. The four occupational groups with the highest concentration of job vacancies in the region all have median hourly wage offers above $30.00. These groups also require higher levels of postsecondary education. For example, where 32% of the Metro Area's total job vacancies require post-secondary education, 75% of Computer and Mathematical Occupations job vacancies require post-secondary education.
Those occupational groups with smaller shares of their respective statewide job vacancies in the Metro Area include Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations, Construction and Extraction Occupations, Legal Occupations, Production Occupations, and Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations.
| Table 3. Metro Area Job Vacancies by Occupational Group, 2022 Sorted by Metro Area Share of Minnesota Job Vacancies | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Occupational Group | Metro Area Job Vacancies | Median Wage Offer | Minnesota Job Vacancies | Metro Area Job Vacancy Share of Minnesota |
| Total, All Occupations | 98,330 | $19.69 | 185,588 | 53.0% |
| Computer and Mathematical | 3,821 | $42.59 | 4,445 | 86.0% |
| Business and Financial Operations | 5,826 | $31.83 | 6,955 | 83.8% |
| Architecture and Engineering | 2,143 | $35.24 | 2,895 | 74.0% |
| Management | 4,490 | $43.43 | 6,401 | 70.1% |
| Internships | 376 | $16.04 | 572 | 65.7% |
| Apprenticeships | 120 | $22.30 | 184 | 65.2% |
| Community and Social Service | 2,982 | $22.23 | 4,807 | 62.0% |
| Office and Administrative Support | 6,621 | $18.77 | 10,820 | 61.2% |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical | 11,408 | $29.63 | 18,828 | 60.6% |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media | 1,176 | $21.49 | 2,055 | 57.2% |
| Protective Service | 939 | $17.46 | 1,696 | 55.4% |
| Healthcare Support | 8,641 | $16.00 | 16,052 | 53.8% |
| Sales and Related | 11,574 | $15.78 | 23,020 | 50.3% |
| Educational Instruction and Library | 4,172 | $20.51 | 8,443 | 49.4% |
| Transportation and Material Moving | 6,509 | $19.73 | 13,374 | 48.7% |
| Personal Care and Service | 2,319 | $14.98 | 4,778 | 48.5% |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | 3,081 | $19.23 | 6,490 | 47.5% |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance | 3,219 | $16.00 | 6,785 | 47.4% |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science | 824 | $25.82 | 1,820 | 45.3% |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related | 11,820 | $16.04 | 26,775 | 44.1% |
| Production | 4,689 | $19.98 | 11,273 | 41.6% |
| Legal | 193 | $43.21 | 499 | 38.7% |
| Construction and Extraction | 1,352 | $20.76 | 4,289 | 31.5% |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry | 36 | $15.65 | 1,333 | 2.7% |
| Source: DEED Job Vacancy Survey | ||||
With nearly 100,000 job vacancies, and continued low unemployment, the Seven-County Metro Area continues to experience very tight labor market conditions. Employers across the region are hiring. This hiring is varied among full- and part-time work, among all 20 major industry sectors and 22 major occupational groups, and for jobs requiring no formal education through bachelor's degrees and advanced degrees. The entry points and educational and career pathways available to workers is nearly limitless. This is highlighted within Healthcare and Social Assistance alone. DEED will continue to track hiring demand through the JVS tool, which will allow for the continued analysis of job vacancies in Minnesota and the Metro Area. These data can prove especially valuable for career seekers, employment counselors, workforce and economic development professionals, students and educators, employers and more as the state and region continue to recover from the COVID recession and navigate uncharted territory.
1See DEED's Cost of Living Calculator online for more information.
