Triangle job postings have dropped by 8%

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – The Triangle labor market remains competitive, with tens of thousands of jobs remaining open according to the latest analysis conducted for the WRAL TechWire Jobs Report.

But in recent weeks, the aggregate number of job openings appears to have slowed after rebounding in September. And that’s consistent with the latest data about the future direction of the economy, potentially, at least according to the latest analysis from North Carolina State University, which showed that North Carolina’s economy “made a slight comeback in September, rising 0.8%.”

One of the drivers of the positive change following months of downward movement was a 14.1% decrease in the seasonally-adjusted initial jobless claims. And that slight uptick could be an indicator that North Carolina’s economy, and in particular, its labor economy, remained resilient while fears of a potential recession continued to swirl.

“Still, the trend in the Index since the Spring has been downward, thereby suggesting a slowing of economic growth in North Carolina,” the latest NCSU index reads. Which begs the question: Does slower economic growth still yield continued growth in the state’s economy—or does it mean we’re headed toward negative growth, or an economic contraction, otherwise known as a recession?

“Many national indicators of a slowing economy, but knowledge that the Triangle is still a coveted region for economic growth,” said Dr. Michael Walden, a Reynolds Distinguished Professor Emeritus at North Carolina State University and a regular contributor to WRAL TechWire, commenting for last week’s WRAL TechWire Jobs Report.

Walden is also the economist that compiles the NCSU Index of North Carolina Leading Economic Indicators.

Coming this week: Fed expected to again raise rates, plus the US jobs report

What’s happening with the Triangle jobs market?

The latest analysis shows that the number of job openings decreased from last week on 14 of the 20 job board searches tracked by WRAL TechWire, with the aggregate total falling by more than 14,500, or about 4.25% week-over-week.

And that follows a drop of 19,500 job openings, or about 5.4% from the week prior. Compared to a month ago, there are nearly 30,000 fewer aggregate postings, with a drop of about 8.2% in the aggregate.

And, just like last week, 90% of the job searches tracked by WRAL TechWire show decreases in the number of job openings from a month ago, with only two searches pertaining to jobs in Johnston County that show increases in the number of job postings. Workers are growing increasingly worried about losing their jobs if a recession – as is now widely expected – hits the U.S. economy and the Triangle.

Further, many of the companies that are hiring in the Triangle have slowed the pace of growth, with the majority of the 40 companies tracked by the WRAL TechWire Jobs Report showing fewer job openings than a month ago.

So where’s the economy right now? For many, it may be prudent to take a “wait-and-see” approach this week, as the Federal Reserve meets on Wednesday and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases data on the country’s employment situation on Friday.

Note: 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. Here's more from WRAL TechWire on the latest changes in the labor markets in our local economy. Below, we’ve gathered the latest upcoming job fairs, student-centric resources, and a list of Twitter accounts that track local job openings. Here's what's new since the last WRAL TechWire Jobs Report.

The data on Triangle jobs

Each week, WRAL TechWire tracks the total number of Triangle-area positions posted on major job websites, across 20 different searches. Here is the latest data, as of Monday afternoon. We use the shorthand abbreviation "MoM" for month-over-month and "YTD" for year-to-date in our report. This week's report also includes tracking the month-over-month gains as a percentage increase or decrease in the total number of postings measured by WRAL TechWire.

Methodology on measuring Triangle job market

Editor's Notes: The month-over-month totals are compared to our October 3 jobs report, and the year-to-date totals compare to our Jan. 3 report. **We've also updated the methodology for which we track Johnston County job openings on LinkedIn, twice now, in July and in August, as the platform updated how jobs display, and in today's report return to month-over-month comparisons. *And, the year-to-date data for Johnston County tracks from Jan. 31, 2022, when we began to track job postings in the county for the WRAL TechWire Jobs Report.

Labor force is No. 1 worry for NC tech execs; 86% of companies are still hiring

Weekly Startup Jobs Report

Aside from the boards above, job seekers can also find local startup positions at these sites:

SimplyHired (166 startup jobs near Research Triangle Park, up five openings from last month)
LinkedIn (10,072 job openings that include "startup" in the Triangle region, up 320 jobs from a month ago)
Indeed (206 startup jobs in/near RTP)
AngelList (24 job openings in Raleigh, 6 in Durham and 59 total across North Carolina)
Durham-based job site InHerSight also lists jobs at local startups among other job postings (213 openings this week, up from 144 job openings last week)

Here's a look at local and regional job sites, listed in alphabetical order, below.

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 Monday, the AMA Triangle job board shows 94 roles close to Raleigh (down 10 roles from a month ago), and another 53 roles, some of which overlap, close to Durham (down 31 roles open last month).

American Underground

Durham-based startup hub American Underground (Editor's Note: American Underground is owned by Capitol Broadcasting Company, the parent company of WRAL TechWire) regularly posts job openings on its job board. Job seekers can filter their search by company, location and job function. As of Monday, the site shows 118 jobs, same as last week, but down 33 from a month ago.

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. 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.

Leadership Triangle

Leadership Triangle's job board is full of job opportunities, including from small, mid-size, and large employers. The site lists 1,552 job openings at 30 companies (down 60 jobs from a month ago).

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 181 job openings as of Monday, up 16 roles from a month ago. (Editor's 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. NC TECH released the September IT Jobs Report last week, which found more than 37,000 openings, the third most in any month of the last 13 months.

Raleigh Founded

Raleigh Founded, a startup incubator and coworking space that celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, has its own job board. Job seekers can filter results by company, company size, industry and job function. The site currently lists 67 positions as of Monday.

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.

As of Monday, the site shows 2,699 as of Monday. That's down from 2,776 job openings a week ago following being down 2,985 openings in the last report, but only down 223 job postings from a month ago.

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 6,271 active job listings as of Monday afternoon. Last week, there were 7,316 job openings on Monday. That's up by 267 job postings compared to a week ago and up 798 open roles from last month.

Every Tuesday, Work in the Triangle’s #TriangleTuesdays hashtag lists hot jobs in the area. Scroll through the #TriangleTuesdays hashtag on Twitter today for more details on the latest openings.

Here are 22 Triangle companies that slowed pace of hiring in October

Where are the jobs in the Triangle?

Amazon: 59 job openings in the Triangle, though some roles can be done remotely, according to the company's career page. Amazon is closing multiple North Carolina facilities, though a company spokesperson told WRAL TechWire that Amazon is not laying off any workers. Workers at an Amazon facility in Garner continue efforts to unionize including speaking with other Amazon workers in the state. The company is also hiring for more than 1,000 roles in North Carolina
Apple (corporate roles): 52 job openings in the Triangle, according to the company's career page, down seven roles from a week ago. The company announced the iPhone 14 and other products at an event produced earlier this year.
Bandwidth: 27 job openings in Raleigh, according to the company's career page. The company will require its employees to work in-person five days per week, WRAL TechWire reported this month.
BASF: 34 job openings in the Triangle, according to the company's career page
BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina: 41 job openings in the Triangle, according to the company's career page
BD: 18 job openings in the Triangle, according to the company's career page
Cisco: 194 job openings in Research Triangle Park, according to the company's career page
Citrix: 23 job openings in Raleigh, according to the company's career page
Credit Suisse: 52 job openings in the Triangle, according to the company's career page. Stock prices plunged in early October and the company is required to pay a big $234 million fine. The company has 21 fewer job openings than a month ago.
Duke Energy: 11 job openings in the Triangle, according to the company's career page, the same as last week.
Eaton: 81 job openings in Raleigh, according to the company's career page. Earlier this year, the company announced plans to hire about 170 workers who will be based in the company's revamped Raleigh office. There are 10 more openings this week compared to last.
Eli Lilly: 36 job openings in Research Triangle Park, according to the company's career page
Fidelity Investments: 562 job openings in Durham, according to the company's career page.
FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies: 40 job openings in the Triangle, according to the company's career page, down 17 job postings from a month ago
Google: 260 job openings in Durham, according to the company's career page. The company is making cuts in some areas of the company but is expected to continue to hire for the Durham engineering hub, WRAL TechWire reported earlier this year. The company is hiring for 51 more positions than it was a month ago.
Grifols: 93 job openings in North Carolina, including in Durham and Clayton, according to the company's career page, down 25 roles from a month ago
GlaxoSmithKline: 119 job openings in Durham, according to the company's career page
IBM: 3 job opening in RTP, according to the company's career page. There's been no change in recent weeks, though the company said it would continue to hire in August.
IQVIA: 363 job openings in RTP, according to the company's career page (down 10 jobs from a week ago and down 61 openings compared to a month ago)
Kyndryl: 73 job openings in RTP, according to the company's career page
Labcorp: 298 job openings in Burlington, N.C., according to the company's career page, an increase of 18 postings from a month ago
Lenovo: 223 job openings in Morrisville, according to the company's career page, down 58 postings from a month ago.
MetLife: 114 job openings in Cary, according to the company's career page. MetLife told WRAL TechWire recently that it planned to hire 400 workers by New Year's Day and will host an employer informational session through NC TECH today.
Merck: 15 job openings in the Triangle, according to the company's career page
Microsoft: 8 job openings in Raleigh, according to the company's career page. The company confirmed last month that it planned to make job cuts, with some 1,000 workers affected.
NetApp: 103 job openings in the Triangle, according to the company's career page
Novo Nordisk: 210 jobs in the Triangle, according to the company's career page. And even more jobs could be coming to the Novo Nordisk location in Johnston County, WRAL TechWire reported in October.
Novartis: 4 job openings in the Triangle, according to the company's career page. The company is closing a Wilson plant.
Pendo: 11 job openings in Raleigh, according to the company's career page. The technology unicorn did announce there would be Pendo layoffs earlier this year totaling less than 5% of the company's workforce, and less than two dozen employees in Raleigh affected.
Pfizer: 117 job openings in North Carolina, according to the company's career page
Red Hat: 30 job openings in Raleigh, according to the company's career page. Red Hat is owned by IBM and recently had a leadership change.
RTI International: 126 job openings in Durham, according to the company's career page, up 12 openings from last week
SAS: 64 job openings in Cary, according to the company's career page, down 63 openings compared to last week and down 93 openings from a month ago. Some of the available roles are remote-based positions.
Science 37: 4 job openings that could be based in Raleigh, though some other roles are remote positions
Sensus (Xylem): 27 job openings in the Triangle, according to the company's career page, which is down from 46 openings a week ago.
Spectrum: 40 job openings in the Triangle, according to the company's career page
Syneos Health: 11 job openings in Raleigh, according to the company's career page
Toshiba Global Commerce: 102 openings in Durham, according to the company's career page, up 43 roles from a month ago.
Wolfspeed: 243 job openings in Durham, according to the company's career page. The company announced a $5 billion investment that is expected to bring some 1,800 jobs to the region, as reported earlier this year by WRAL TechWire.
Worldwide Clinical Trials: 58 job openings in North Carolina, according to the company's careers page

Upcoming hiring events

2022 Virtual Fall Graduate, Law & Professional School Fair: Nov. 2 (Virtual). The 2022 Virtual Fall Graduate, Law & Professional School Fair (hosted by NC State, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Wilmington and Wake Forest University) is an opportunity for students to network with graduate and professional school admissions representatives. There will be an opportunity for one-on-one chats with representatives, group information sessions, or a combination of the two, as selected by each program.
2022 NC Master's & Doctoral Virtual Career Fair: Nov. 3 (Virtual). Graduate and professional students and post-docs in humanities/social sciences and STEM fields are cordially invited to participate in this virtual event put on by six North Carolina institutions (Duke, NC State, UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Charlotte, UNC Greensboro, and Wake Forest University).
Carolina Startup Connect: Nov. 9 (Carolina Union). This isn’t your average college career fair. It’s designed specifically for startup companies to meet with entrepreneurial-minded students from UNC-Chapel Hill and Carolina Central Community College who have high-demand skills and a passion for working at startups.