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US Q3 2024 Business-to-Business Labor Market Update: Still Waiting for a Rebound in Software – Indeed Hiring Lab

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US Q3 2024 Business-to-Business Labor Market Update: Still Waiting for a Rebound in Software – Indeed Hiring Lab

The Indeed Hiring Lab tracks business-to-business (B2B) employment trends, analyzing the latest Indeed data. We examine overall labor market trends and dive deeper into job posting trends in various B2B occupational categories. Finally, we focus on recent developments in layoffs and worker turnover.

Takeaways: 

  • The consistent decline in job postings that began in early 2022 showed signs of leveling off in Q3 2024. As of October 18, job postings were 10.8% above pre-pandemic levels. 
  • Job postings for software developers fell below pre-pandemic levels in Spring 2023, and remained almost 33% below pre-pandemic levels as of October 18.
  • Software Development wage growth has picked up, climbing one percentage point in the last six months.
  • Pay transparency — measured as the share of job postings within a given sector that contain some information on proposed pay — increased over the past year in all B2B sectors except Construction. 

Video of Hiring Lab Sr. Economist Daniel Culbertson discussing the Q3 2024 US Labor Market Update with a focus on the B2B 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 October 18. 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 18, 2024. US job postings have fallen 12.9% over the past year.

Business-to-business postings 

Job posting trends inside the broader B2B vertical cover a wide range of segments and industries. Job postings in the Insurance sector, for example, have held up relatively well, declining only 3.5% over the past year and remaining 32% above their pre-pandemic level. Software Development postings, on the other hand, have declined 11.1% in the past year and remain almost 33% below pre-pandemic levels. 

Table titled “Finance and software job postings remain below pre-pandemic baseline” shows job posting trends over the past year through October 18, 2024, as well as from the pre-pandemic baseline, for several B2B occupations. Production & Manufacturing job postings decreased 23.9% over the past year but remained up 12.9% from their pre-pandemic baseline.
Table titled “Finance and software job postings remain below pre-pandemic baseline” shows job posting trends over the past year through October 18, 2024, as well as from the pre-pandemic baseline, for several B2B occupations. Production & Manufacturing job postings decreased 23.9% over the past year but remained up 12.9% from their pre-pandemic baseline.

Business-to-business wage growth 

Wage growth in the B2B vertical was a bit of a mixed bag. Posted salaries for Education & Instruction roles grew 4.6% year-over-year in September, well above the labor market average of 3.3% over the same period. And while overall annual posted wage growth for Software Development jobs lagged well behind (at just 1.4%) in September, it picked up over the summer, climbing one percentage point between March and September. 

Table titled “Software Development wage growth notches gains” shows year-over-year growth in posted wages through September 2024, as well as the percentage point change in the past six months, by job category. Software Development and Construction wages have grown 1.4% and 2.3% year-over-year, respectively.
Table titled “Software Development wage growth notches gains” shows year-over-year growth in posted wages through September 2024, as well as the percentage point change in the past six months, by job category. Software Development and Construction wages have grown 1.4% and 2.3% year-over-year, respectively.

B2B 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. For the most part, sectors in the B2B vertical are not quite as pay transparent as the overall labor market, with only the Construction sector boasting a higher share of pay transparent job postings than the overall national average. But while still lagging behind, pay transparency in the broader B2B vertical grew between September 2023 and September 2024 in all categories except Construction. 

Table titled “Majority of Software Development postings now list pay information” shows pay transparency data for September 2023, September 2024, and the percentage point change over the course of that year, for several B2B occupations. In September 2024, Software Development and Construction had pay information in 56% and 62.1% of job postings, respectively.
Table titled “Majority of Software Development postings now list pay information” shows pay transparency data for September 2023, September 2024, and the percentage point change over the course of that year, for several B2B occupations. In September 2024, Software Development and Construction had pay information in 56% and 62.1% of job postings, respectively.

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

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