Employers in the months following the pandemic went on a hiring spree.
Julia Pollak, an economist from ZipRecruiter, says it was "a feeding frenzy, a dogfight for talent, where wages kept getting bid higher and higher and higher."
But new data shows employees have lost a lot of that leverage they enjoyed in 2021 and 2022 while businesses make a concerted effort to tighten their belts.
Data from ZipRecruiter provided to Scripps News shows applications per job posting on average are up 13% compared to this time last year.
Meanwhile industries like retail, agriculture, transportation, and manufacturing have all dropped their average posted salaries for positions significantly compared to last year.
Pollak says a trend that started among white collar workers last year has migrated to blue-collar sections of the workforce.
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"We're actually seeing a pullback in wage growth in those blue-collar sectors. We've seen leisure and hospitality lose jobs in three of the last six or seven jobs reports. Those jobs that are like the first rung of the ladder into the labor market, are seeing demand for workers decline and working conditions get less attractive," said Pollak.
You can see the changes among white collar workers as well — from eliminating signing bonuses to refusing to negotiate salary with prospective hires.
Brandi Britton is an executive with Robert Half, an international recruitment agency.
"Certainly, hiring has been more measured this year. What I think that you're seeing that's getting eliminated are those odd things — so like, very large sign-on bonuses, very large salary increases," said Britton.
But Pollak and Britton don't believe all the gains made during the pandemic for workers, from remote work to higher pay, will disappear.
"I think many of those things will be the norm. Employees have come to expect it in general," said Britton.
According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, average hourly earnings have risen nearly 23% since Feb 2020 and show a net gain for workers' average spending power compared to 2019.
"Yes, there is reason to be afraid that some of those gains might be lost. That said, we're not there yet, and the Fed has tremendous policy room to cut rates and keep the party going," said Pollak.
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