RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – The national job market received a jolt of uncertainty last week when the Federal Reserve announced it would increase interest rates by 0.75%—a move likely to drive up unemployment and slow the pace of hiring nationwide, including in the Triangle. 

The Fed expects unemployment rates to reach 4.1% in 2024 as it takes measures to combat rising inflation. Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated last Wednesday that restoring price stability “really is in service, in the medium and longer term, of the kind of labor market we want and hope to achieve.”

With the Fed’s latest rate hike (and the expectation of more on the way), NC State University economist Dr. Michael Walden tells WRAL TechWire he expects the “strength of the job market will weaken” in the coming months. “This is really the goal of the Federal Reserve as it wants the pace of the economy to slow in order to moderate inflation,” he says. “Further, if the job market and the broader economy do not slow, the Fed will boost interest rates even more.”

Tech talent demand remains strong in Triangle – here’s which companies are hiring

Walden recalls the late-1970s and early-1980s when annual inflation reached over 13% and the Fed raised its key interest rate to more than 20%. While the move led to a recession, inflation sank to 3% within three years.

“A recession today is not assured, but if the Fed is serious about reducing inflation, a recession is a distinct possibility,” Walden says. “If a recession does occur, we will see outright job reductions and higher unemployment.”

Still, Walden doesn’t think the Fed is finished with its rate hikes anytime soon. Since the federal funds rate (1.75%) is well below the inflation rate (8.6%), “there could be a way to go,” he says.

Trend already begun?

As TechWire’s Jobs Report documented in recent weeks, there has been a downturn in job openings across the Triangle over the last few months. Even so, the demand for jobs in technology and life science remains high—especially as many biotech and pharma companies have expanded their facilities over the last year. And the Raleigh-Durham area recently ranked sixth in a new CBRE report comparing the nation’s leading markets for life science talent.

But the Triangle’s tech- and life science-heavy workforce is not insulated from the impacts of interest rate hikes and a potential recession, Walden says.

“The Triangle – including tech – will feel the impacts of a slowdown, just has it has in previous economic tightenings by the Fed,” he says. “Tech may even experience a greater adverse impact due to the fact the sector has ‘boomed’ so much during the pandemic and afterward.”

WRAL TechWire’s weekly Jobs Report compiles the latest information from the region’s top job boards, offering a breakdown of how many jobs are posted, which companies are hiring, and what positions are most in-demand. We’ve also included upcoming job fairs, student-centric resources, and a list of Twitter accounts that track local job openings.

Below, we’ll review what’s new since last week’s Jobs Report.

Local Positions on National Job Boards

Every week, we track the total number of Triangle-area positions posted on major job websites. Here’s a look at the totals as of Sunday afternoon. Note: The month-over-month totals are compared to our May 23 report, and the year-to-date totals compare to our Jan. 3 report.

  • Adzuna:
    • Wake County: 50,861 (⇓ -1,779 month-over-month; ⇑ +8,310 year-to-date)
    • Raleigh: 29,843 (⇓ -1,840 MoM; ⇑ +5,899 YTD)
    • Durham County: 12,862 (⇑ +530 MoM; ⇑ +3,108 YTD)
    • Johnston County: 3,278 (⇓ -57 MoM)*
  • Dice.com (using the 5-mile radius filter):
    • Raleigh: 18,478 (⇓ -124 MoM; ⇑ +3,231 YTD)
    • Durham: 18,316 (⇓ -92 MoM; ⇑ +3,136 YTD)
    • Chapel Hill: 18,099 (⇓ -94 MoM; ⇑ +3,110 YTD)
  • Glassdoor: 38,585 jobs across the Research Triangle Park area (⇓ -1,032 MoM; ⇑ +3,737 YTD)
  • Indeed (5-mile radius filter):
    • Raleigh: 17,472 (⇓ -716 MoM; ⇑ +1,064 YTD)
    • Durham: 10,628 (⇓ -814 MoM; ⇑ +591 YTD)
    • Chapel Hill: 4,709 (⇓ -644 MoM; ⇑ +821 YTD)
    • Johnston County: 936 (⇑ +36 MoM)*
  • LinkedIn (using the “exact location” and “0-miles” filters):
    • Raleigh: 27,284 (⇓ -2,197 MoM; ⇑ +419 YTD)
    • Durham: 13,386 (⇓ -3,207 MoM; ⇓ -1,101 YTD)
    • Chapel Hill: 2,849 (⇓ -375 MoM; ⇑ +419 YTD)
    • Johnston County: 1,603 (⇓ -68 MoM)*
  • ZipRecruiter (5-mile filter):
    • Raleigh: 43,511 (⇑ +2,057 MoM; ⇑ +10,289 YTD)
    • Durham: 18,860 (⇑ +1,403 MoM; ⇑ +4,002 YTD)
    • Chapel Hill: 960 (⇑ +38 MoM; ⇓ -2,684 YTD)
    • Johnston County: 405 (⇑ +39 MoM)*

*Note: The year-to-date data for Johnston County is not available because we added it to the lineup after January 2022.

Startup Job Search Sites

Aside from the boards above, job seekers can also find local startup jobs at SimplyHired (253 startup jobs near Research Triangle Park), LinkedIn (13,743 results in and around Raleigh), Indeed (295 startup jobs in/near RTP) and AngelList (job openings in Raleigh, Durham and across North Carolina). InHerSight also lists jobs at local startups.

Here’s a look at local and regional job sites, listed in alphabetical order:

AMA Triangle

AMA Triangle, the fifth-largest chapter in American Marketing Association’s nationwide network, aims to be a go-to resource for all things marketing in the Triangle. The organization provides professional training, free career webinars and a job board offering free resume placement for marketing professionals.

As of Sunday afternoon, AMA Triangle’s job board shows 65 marketing jobs in Raleigh, 33 in Durham and 19 in Chapel Hill (using the 25-mile radius filter). Four new jobs were added to the site over the last week.

  • Advance Auto Parts is looking to hire a change management communications manager in Raleigh.
  • Verizon posted two positions in Cary: Senior product marketing advisor and security product marketing manager.
  • Wells Fargo seeks a global recruitment and marketing strategist in Raleigh.

American Underground

Durham-based startup hub American Underground regularly posts job openings on its job board. Job seekers can filter their search by company, location and job function. As of Sunday afternoon, the site shows 177 jobs at 56 companies. Eight job openings were posted over the last week:

  • Durham wellness startup Auroraflow is looking to hire a licensed massage therapist (Spanish-speaking).
  • Elevate Labs, a brain training app developer, posted a remote opening for a senior product designer.
  • Software consulting firm Galatea Associates posted two openings in Durham: Senior financial software associate and financial software associate.
  • Durham-based data science firm NoviSci seeks a chief revenue officer in Durham.
  • Edtech startup Upswing posted a remote job opening for a PT operations associate.
  • Wild Earth, a pet food company, seeks a field brand ambassador in Raleigh.

Bio Jobs Hub

Last year, WRAL TechWire and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center launched a Bio Jobs Hub platform focused on biopharma manufacturing — one of North Carolina’s largest industries, employing over 26,000 people.

Typical biopharma jobs include process technicians, maintenance and/or instrumentation technicians, quality assurance and quality control associates, process development scientists and process engineers. This industry also offers competitive entry-level salaries, from $42,000 to $60,000.

Triangle’s demand for life science jobs ranks 6th among top markets, report finds

Scientists, skilled laborers and recent graduates can use the Bio Jobs Hub resource to find career and training opportunities in their area. Users can search by location, job category/activity and region.

Many biopharma companies are hiring in the Triangle, including large employers like Biogen in Research Triangle Park, bioMérieux in Durham, GSK in Zebulon, Merck & Co. in Durham, Novo Nordisk in Durham and Clayton, Pfizer in Sanford, and others.

Leadership Triangle

Leadership Triangle’s job board is packed with local jobs. The site displays 1,648 openings at 30 companies as of Sunday afternoon.

Here’s what’s been posted in the last week:

  • Bank of America posted five local job openings: Small business consultant and relationship banker (Raleigh), small business banker (Cary), client service representative (Durham) and advisor development program relationship manager (Garner).
  • Blue Cross NC posted eight openings in Durham: Pharmacy quality programs manager, senior strategic advisor, senior financial analyst, Medicare business analyst, principal organizational development advisor, portfolio management team leader, senior business systems analyst and sales manager.
  • Capitol Broadcasting Company (WRAL TechWire’s parent company) is hiring for two positions in Raleigh: Digital advertising specialist and copywriter.
  • Coastal Credit Union is looking to hire an account manager in Holly Springs.
  • Fidelity Investments posted several new jobs in Durham last week, including principal UX content strategist, Agile coach/chapter leader, software engineer in test, principal Java engineer (two openings), associate software engineer, software engineering SVP, senior Android engineer, level 4 full-stack engineer (two openings), senior manager of digital communities engagement and operations, senior manager of digital communities marketing and content, senior cloud software engineer, senior software engineer and full-stack software engineer.
  • Medicago seeks a manufacturing specialist in Durham.
  • North Carolina Central University posted several positions in Durham: Admissions counselor, assistant admissions director, administrative support associate (two openings), public communications specialist, sponsored research director, professor/SunTrust endowed chair, residential life area coordinator, temporary administrative support associate, human resources consultant (two openings), business services coordinator, building environmental tech (housekeeping), accounting technician, university program specialist/pre-award research administrator, business officer and public safety officer.
  • Self-Help Credit Union is looking to hire a universal banker in Durham.
  • Truist posted several job openings across the Triangle area:
    • Angier: Relationship banker
    • Apex: Senior relationship banker
    • Benson: Teller/senior teller and financial services specialist
    • Cary: On-demand teller and teller/senior teller
    • Chapel Hill: Relationship banker
    • Durham: Universal banker
    • Garner: On-demand teller
    • Hillsborough: Relationship banker
    • Morrisville: Senior relationship banker and branch leader
    • Raleigh: CA Clarity software engineer, Agile digital product owner, lead full-stack engineer, identity and access manager, IAM system administrator, software engineer (three openings), teller/senior teller, relationship banker (two openings), branch coordinator, universal banker (two openings), branch leader, financial services specialist, senior data operations engineer, AI developer, lead data scientist, communications and instructional design consultant, CCB CRE analyst, DevSecOps engineer, senior principal back-end engineer, senior React native mobile engineer, senior HTML5 gaming engineer, QA tester, client messaging QA tester, financial crimes investigator, risk identification and advisory advisor/RCSA lead, senior UX designer and career program manager
    • Siler City: Teller/senior teller

NCBiotech

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s extensive jobs board lists open jobs and internships from local life science companies and research organizations. The organization recently updated the user interface with a fresh design. Job seekers can filter their search results by position title, job function and location. NCBiotech also touts jobs through its Bio Jobs Hub program.

The site lists 288 openings as of Sunday afternoon. Here is what’s new over the last week:

  • Alcami posted several openings in Durham and Morrisville: Associate bioassay scientist, validation specialist, associate micro/environmental monitoring scientist, metrologist, senior project manager, senior quality specialist (two openings), manufacturing technician, senior manufacturing tech, EHS manager, biologics analytical manager, microbiology data review specialist, chemistry data review specialist and senior maintenance technician.
  • CoImmune is hiring a senior procurement supply chain coordinator in Durham.
  • The David Lab at Duke University seeks a research technician in Durham.
  • Hughes Engineering & Consulting is looking to hire an engineering director in Raleigh.
  • Inanovate is looking to hire a medical device production technician, a platform development engineer and a production manager in Chapel Hill.
  • Inceptor Bio seeks an in vivo research associate in Raleigh.
  • MedKoo Biosciences posted an opening for an entry-level chemist/biochemist in Morrisville.
  • Merck & Co. is hiring for several positions in Durham, including senior manufacturing operations technician, senior operations technician, lead operations technician (three openings), DS4 senior operations technician, senior deviation management specialist, supplier development engineer, senior instrumentation technician, maintenance/calibration manager, vaccine manufacturing operations technician (two openings), senior vaccine manufacturing operations technician, regional medical scientific director, operations manager and lead technician.
  • Redbud Labs seeks a grant writer in Durham.

Note: This list does not include openings posted by recruiting/staffing firms.

NC TECH

The North Carolina Technology Association (NC TECH) has an interactive job board that you can use to find your next career opportunity. Users can search by keyword, location, category, type (full-time or part-time) and experience level. Only one local job was posted last week: Labcorp is looking to hire a senior director of IT desktop and field support in Durham.

NCWorks

NCWorks, the statewide job search portal run by the North Carolina Department of Commerce, has nearly 100 career centers located across the state. Users can filter NCWorks’ database by keyword, location, occupation group or specific occupations, minimum acceptable salary, education level, job sources and date posted.

North Carolina military veterans, transitioning service members and spouses can find additional resources on NCWorks’ separate veterans portal.

About 1,160 resumes were updated on the site this week, as of Sunday afternoon. NCWorks reports thousands of available positions across the Triangle area.

Top organizations

In Wake County, the top employers with the most job openings on NCWorks are*:

  • North Carolina State University
  • WakeMed Health and Hospitals
  • UNC Health Care System
  • Lenovo
  • University of North Carolina

Here are the top companies/organizations by job openings in Durham County:

  • Duke University
  • Durham Public Schools
  • Duke University Health System
  • Fidelity Investments
  • IQVIA

The top employers in Johnston County are:

  • Johnston County Public Schools
  • Johnston Health
  • Novo Nordisk
  • Grifols
  • Food Lion

And here are the top employers in Orange County:

  • UNC Chapel Hill
  • UNC Health Care System
  • Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools
  • Orange County Schools
  • Piedmont Health Services

*Note: This data was gathered through NCWorks’ Labor Market Information portal, which aggregates public job listings. NC Commerce confirmed with TechWire that this search pathway has a thorough process to remove duplicate job listings. Check employers’ websites directly for the latest information.

Raleigh Founded

Raleigh Founded, a startup incubator and coworking space, has its own job board. Job seekers can filter results by company, company size, industry and job function. The site currently lists 155 positions at 30 companies as of Sunday afternoon. Seven new jobs were posted over the last week:

  • Durham’s MedPharm, a contract development and manufacturing organization, posted three positions in Durham: LC/MS analytical senior scientist, HPLC analytical senior scientist and quality control associate scientist.
  • The North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation posted a remote opening for a data and policy associate.
  • Raleigh software startup Pendo is looking to hire a sales operations reporting analyst.
  • AI startup Pyron seeks a remote product manager.
  • Coworking provider Raleigh Founded is hiring a community coordinator.

Triangle Region Job Board

Leadership Triangle, Raleigh Founded and American Underground teamed up to create the Triangle Region Job Board, which synthesizes all of the openings posted on the organizations’ job boards. (Those openings are listed under their respective subheadings above.)

As of Sunday afternoon, the site shows 3,242 jobs at 100 companies. The latest Triangle-area openings (excluding remote jobs) come from the following employers:

  • Bank of America (multiple locations)
  • Blue Cross NC (Durham)
  • Capitol Broadcasting Company (Raleigh)
  • Coastal Credit Union (Raleigh)
  • Fidelity Investments (Durham)
  • Galatea Associates (Durham)
  • Henderson Collegiate (Henderson)
  • Medicago (Durham)
  • MedPharm (Durham)
  • North Carolina Central University (Durham)
  • Pendo (Raleigh)
  • Raleigh Founded (Raleigh)
  • Self-Help Credit Union (Durham)
  • Truist (multiple locations)
  • Wild Earth (Raleigh/Durham)

Work in the Triangle

Work in the Triangle, a Wake County Economic Development program, regularly shares new openings through its Twitter feed, @WorkTriangleNC. The program launched a job board on its website earlier this year, with 10,258 active openings as of Sunday afternoon. Of those, 8,330 are technology jobs, 1,132 are advanced manufacturing positions, 338 are in cleantech and 458 are in life sciences.

Every Tuesday, Work in the Triangle’s #TriangleTuesdays hashtag lists hot jobs in the area. Here’s a recap of last week’s openings (from June 14):

Scroll through the #TriangleTuesdays hashtag on Twitter for more details on the openings.

Openings at Top Triangle Tech Firms

Job openings abound at the Triangle’s leading technology employers. Here’s how many are available as of Sunday afternoon:

  • Lenovo: 331 jobs in Morrisville
  • SAS: 156 openings in Cary
  • Red Hat: 27 openings in Raleigh; 20 remote openings in North Carolina
  • Bandwidth: 52 openings in Raleigh
  • Pendo: 22 openings in Raleigh
  • IBM: ~23 jobs in RTP, according to the website; 182 jobs in Durham listed on NCWorks

Job Openings Submitted by Local Companies

Below is a list of employer-submitted job openings. If you’d like to submit your job openings for this segment, reach out to us here.

Senior care provider Allcare Home Health Agency is hiring caregivers and CNAs across Wake, Durham, Johnston, Chatham and Franklin counties. Click here for the job description and application.

Chapel Hill-based edtech company Terra Dotta plans to boost its headcount by 25% in 2022. Its current job openings include:

Upcoming Job Fairs/Career Events

Here’s our latest roundup of upcoming job fairs and other resources to help people looking for employment:

UNC Hospitals RN Care Manager Virtual Drop-in Hiring Event: June 21, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. (online)

UNC Hospitals is looking to hire RN care managers across several departments, including adult inpatient medicine, emergency, oncology, pediatrics and heart/vascular surgery. In this online job fair, applicants can meet with UNC Hospitals’ recruiter and care management team. More details here.

BioNetwork Virtual Career Fair: Aug. 3, 3–6 p.m. (online)

The North Carolina BioNetwork will host an online career fair for process technicians seeking jobs at biotechnology, pharmaceutical or chemical manufacturing companies. More information here.

NC State Engineering Career Fair: Sept. 20–21 (in-person and virtual)

In this hybrid career fair, NC State engineering students can meet with employers seeking talent across a range of industries. This is a two-day event: The first day will be held in person, while the second will take place virtually via Career Fair Plus. More details here.

Other Resources / Student Support

If you’re a student looking for an internship or entry-level position at a local company or organization, your university has resources to help you get started. Quick links below:

For Johnston County job seekers: The newly launched JoCo Careers website helps job seekers find companies hiring in Johnston County. (More TechWire coverage here.)

Twitter Accounts to Follow

Here are some locally run Twitter accounts that regularly share job openings in the Triangle: