Takeaways: 

  • The consistent decline in job postings that began in early 2022 showed signs of leveling off in Q3 2024. As of Oct. 18, job postings were 10.8% above pre-pandemic levels. 
  • Despite falling modestly over the past year, job postings for Therapy roles and Physicians & Surgeons are holding up better than the rest of the labor market. 
  • Wage growth in most healthcare sectors continues to slow, with almost all sectors registering a decline in the past six months. 
  • Pay transparency — measured as the share of job postings within a given sector that contain some information on proposed pay — climbed considerably for pharmacy roles, rising 24 percentage points between September 2023 and September 2024. 
Video of Indeed Hiring Lab Sr. Economist, Daniel Culbertson, discussing the Q3 2024 US Labor Market Update, with a focus on the healthcare vertical.

Indeed job postings 

Despite being down 13% from a year earlier, the US Indeed Job Posting Index (JPI) remained 10.8% above pre-pandemic levels as of Oct. 18. And after declining consistently since early 2022, the US JPI showed signs of stabilization over the summer, hovering in a tight range between 10% and 13% above pre-pandemic norms for several months. This suggests the cooling in demand for workers over the past several years has paused, at least for now, leaving some employers facing a bit less competition when looking to make hires.

Line graph titled “US job postings remain 10.8% above the pre-pandemic baseline” shows the change in Indeed job postings since their pre-pandemic baseline, through October 18th, 2024. The vertical axis ranges from 0 to 200, while the horizontal axis ranges from February 1, 2020 to October 18, 2024. A single blue line shows that US job postings have fallen 12.9% over the past year.
Line graph titled “US job postings remain 10.8% above the pre-pandemic baseline” shows the change in Indeed job postings since their pre-pandemic baseline, through Oct. 18, 2024. US job postings have fallen 12.9% over the past year.

Healthcare job postings 

Job postings in all Healthcare sectors analyzed by Indeed were down compared to a year ago as of Oct. 18. However, declines were small in some segments, and the Healthcare sector overall is holding up better than the broader labor market. Postings for Personal Care & Home Health jobs, Therapy roles, and Physicians & Surgeons were each down by only about 5% or less over the past year as of mid-October, compared to an overall labor market decline of 12.9% over the same period. Postings in most other healthcare sectors were down by double-digit percentages over the past year, but postings in all Healthcare sectors remain well above their pre-pandemic baseline. 

Table titled “Job postings in all healthcare sectors decline year-over-year” shows job posting trends over the past year through October 18, 2024, as well as from the pre-pandemic baseline, for several healthcare occupations. Therapy job postings declined 0.6% over the past year while nursing job postings fell by 19.6%.
Table titled “Job postings in all healthcare sectors decline year-over-year” shows job posting trends over the past year through Oct. 18, 2024, as well as from the pre-pandemic baseline, for several healthcare occupations. Therapy job postings declined 0.6% over the past year while nursing job postings fell by 19.6%.

Healthcare wage growth

Annual posted wage growth in some Healthcare categories, including Dental and Childcare, was much stronger than the labor market average of 3.3% in September. Annual posted wage growth in others, including Nursing and Therapy, has been much slower (at 2.4% and 2.1%, respectively). Wage growth in Healthcare continues to trend down, with growth in all sectors except Nursing coming in slower in September 2024 than it was in March.

Table titled “Wage growth edges down in most healthcare categories” shows year-over-year growth in posted wages through September 2024, and the percentage point change in the past six months, by job category. Therapy and Nursing wages have grown 2.1% and 2.4% year-over-year, respectively.
Table titled “Wage growth edges down in most healthcare categories” shows year-over-year growth in posted wages through September 2024, and the percentage point change in the past six months, by job category. Therapy and Nursing wages have grown 2.1% and 2.4% year-over-year, respectively.

Pay transparency

While momentum towards higher levels of pay transparency may have slowed, a clear majority (57.8%) of job postings on Indeed featured information on wage or salary in September. The level of pay transparency in Healthcare varies across sectors. Some categories, including Personal Care & Home Health and Dental, far exceed the labor market average with 74.5% and 73.2% of postings showing pay information, respectively. Postings in other sectors, including  Physicians & Surgeons and Medical Technician, advertise pay information far less often, at 39.1% and 44.6%, respectively. 

Table titled “Pay transparency increases in all healthcare sectors” shows pay transparency data for September 2023, September 2024, and the percentage point change over the course of that year, for several healthcare occupations. In September 2024, Therapy and Nursing had pay information in 71.8% and 50.6% of job postings, respectively.
Table titled “Pay transparency increases in all healthcare sectors” shows pay transparency data for September 2023, September 2024, and the percentage point change over the course of that year, for several healthcare occupations. In September 2024, Therapy and Nursing had pay information in 71.8% and 50.6% of job postings, respectively.

For more labor market insights from the Indeed Hiring Lab, visit us at hiringlab.org.