RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Companies across the Triangle still need thousands of workers but advertising shows demand is waning And a slowdown in technology job openings across the state is occurring, as found by NC TECH in a report released on Monday.
It’s not all gloom and doom, however. Though there is not yet data available for the labor market in the Triangle for January 2023, Dr. Gerald Cohen, the chief economist at the Kenan Institute, told WRAL TechWire on Monday that job growth in the region continues. However it now is at a slower pace than a year ago or in the middle of 2022.
“And, per the national trend, job openings increased in North Carolina in December, which bodes well,” said Cohen.
In the Triangle, Meta’s recent confirmation that the technology company has opened an office in Durham and plans to hire as many as 100 engineers “bodes well” said Cohen, especially as compared to other regions.
Still, the latest WRAL TechWire Jobs Report shows that companies may be slowing the pace of hiring, as the number of job openings in the region has dropped compared to a week ago and remains lower than a month ago.
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What’s happening in Triangle job market
Whether that’s true in the Triangle remains to be seen, however. WRAL TechWire Jobs Report, which is published on Tuesdays, finds that the number of job openings fell in January to the lowest levels in at least 13 months. The total stands at slightly more than 284,000 job postings, not accounting for duplications in advertisements across multiple job boards.
And that’s the lowest total on record, since January of 2022 when WRAL TechWire updated the methodology for the weekly Jobs Report.
Job boards as a barometer indicate a continuing downward trend.
Compared to a week ago, the total number of job openings plummeted by up by nearly 20,500 job advertisements, a decrease of 6.73%.
And only two of the 20 job boards tracked for the weekly report show more openings than a week ago.
There are nearly 18,000 fewer openings, nearly a 6% drop, in a month.
Still, 47 of 50 notable employers across the region continue to post job advertisements.
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MORE COVERAGE:
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- 5 reasons for the continuing worker shortage
- NC isn't preparing enough workforce-ready adults, report says
Each week, WRAL TechWire tracks the total number of Triangle-area positions posted on major job websites, across 20 different searches.
The month-over-month totals are compared to our January 17 jobs report, and the year-over-year totals compare to our February 21, 2022 report.
