Job Vacancies in Northwest Oregon in 2023
April 9, 2024Northwest Oregon employers reported roughly 4,700 job vacancies in the private sector on an average day in 2023. This was a 29% decline from the 6,600 job vacancies reported in 2022. Leisure and hospitality reported the most vacancies of any industry in 2023 at 1,254 vacancies on an average day. The occupations with the most vacancies were security guards, restaurant cooks, and personal care aides. These estimates for job vacancies came from a survey of 1,700 private-sector employers with two or more employees in Northwest Oregon during the year.
Three-quarters of these positions were reported by employers as being difficult to fill. The table below shows how many vacancies were considered difficult to fill for each type of occupation. Jobs that were open for longer durations were more likely to be difficult to fill. While 75% of all vacancies were difficult to fill, only 57% of vacancies open for less than 30 days were difficult to fill, while 95% of vacancies open for 60 or more days were considered difficult to fill by employers. In total, 30% of vacancies were open for 60 or more days. This is a smaller share of overall vacancies than in the past two years: 41% of vacancies were open for 60 or more days in 2022, and 59% of vacancies were open for over 60 days in 2021.
Job vacancies could be found in many industries and across 127 different occupations in Northwest Oregon. While leisure and hospitality had the most vacancies, healthcare and social assistance and manufacturing also had many vacancies at 1,103 and 548, respectively. These three industries are also three of the largest industries in Northwest Oregon, so it isn’t surprising that over half of the job vacancies were concentrated here. Occupations that held high numbers of vacancies included mental health counselors and registered nurses in healthcare and social assistance, and food and tobacco roasting, baking, and drying machine operators and tenders in the manufacturing industry.
Roughly half of the job vacancies were for jobs that paid less than $20 per hour. These jobs had an average starting wage of $15.74 and were less likely to be full-time positions than other vacancies. While only 2% of these vacancies required education beyond high school, 34% required previous experience. Nearly a quarter of the job vacancies were for jobs that paid between $20 and $30. These jobs were more likely to be full time, permanent positions, and most required education beyond high school and previous experience. Notably, fewer of these positions were considered difficult to fill by employers, even with the increased requirements for employment.
Vacancies that required postsecondary training or other certifications highlighted the value of education beyond high school. The average starting wage of vacant positions requiring postsecondary education was 38% higher than the average wage of vacant positions requiring only a high school diploma. Vacancies requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher had essentially the same wage as those requiring postsecondary education. This reflects the current mix of occupations in Northwest Oregon and demands of the labor market.
Many of the vacancies in healthcare and social assistance, as well as in construction, require postsecondary education or training. Sometimes these come in the form of specialized training and certificate programs from local community colleges or from training acquired by apprenticeships.