Ratio of Job Seekers to Openings Hits Record High

Unemployed workers are facing one of the bleakest job markets on record, despite reports of an economic recovery in sight. Job seekers now outnumber job openings at a rate of six to one. To put this in perspective, the worst that this ratio reached during the 2001 recession was just over two job seekers to one job opening, and at the beginning of this year, it was four to one.

The outlook for job openings doesn’t look like it’s going to improve any time soon. The average work week for U.S. workers is at an all time low of 33 hours/week. And as the economy improves, organizations will be more likely to increase the workloads of existing workers before they start to hire new workers. Combine this implication with an environment of economic uncertainty, and prospects for workers’ job search become even bleaker.

How will this impact recruiting? There will continue to be fewer requisitions coupled with higher application volume—the noise in the labor market may not be dampened in the near future.