2 min read

Contingent Hiring Surpasses Pre-Pandemic Levels

Erin Geiger : September 09, 2021

Talent Acquisition Trends

Contingent Hiring Surpasses Pre-Pandemic Levels

Walmart Increases Hourly Pay for Half a Million Workers

The holiday season is almost upon us, and with it comes the annual ‘battle for holiday labor’ for the usual retail big guns. Walmart announced the organization is increasing hourly wages by at least $1 for 565,000 associates. The increase will be effective September 25 and will raise the hourly rate to $16.40. Front-end, food and consumable, and general merchandise will all get the new bump.

And…they’re also forecasting a hiring boom of 20,000 additional part and full-time supply chain workers to support the upcoming holiday season. Hiring events start this month and open roles include freight handlers, lift drivers, order fillers, technicians, and managers. The average pay for a supply chain associate is $20.37 per hour.

Dollar General Reaches Goal of 50K Hires

More than 50,000 employees have been hired since mid-July, but the company isn’t stopping there. Job opportunities in distribution centers, stores, and its Store Support Center are open and actively hiring. In addition, a $5,000 sign-on bonus is being offered to drivers with an active CDL when hired within the DG Private Fleet. The bonus will be paid out over six months for drivers starting between now and January 28, 2022.

IT Jobs Hit a Record High

After a slight increase in August, IT jobs hit a record high with a .06% increase to almost 5.4 million jobs…though growth has slowed. When looking year over year, IT employment increase 4.6% (an addition of 236,400 IT workers). Engineering employment increased .41% last month to more than 2.6 million jobs, an increase of 3.08% year over year (an increase of 78,600 workers).

Gen Z Seeing an Increase in Gig Work and Hourly Pay

While Millennials make up 53% of the workers on talent platform Wonolo, Gen Z is catching up, being the only generation that saw in increase in jobs completed. Gen Z now makes up 22% of the platform’s workers, up from 14%. Gen Z is also experiencing the largest increase in average hourly earnings on the platform, an 11% increase from 2019 to 2021.

U.S. Job Openings Hit Record High

In July, job openings in the U.S. increased to a record 10.9 million. This is up from 10.2 million, the previous record, set in June. Healthcare and social assistance saw the largest gain with 294,000 listings.