Southwestern Oregon Job Vacancies Reach Record in 2021
March 3, 2022 Private employers in Southwestern Oregon were looking to fill about 4,800 job vacancies in 2021 according to estimates from the Oregon Employment Department’s annual Job Vacancy Survey. The record level of vacancies came as employers tried to replace jobs lost during the pandemic recession in 2020. Employers reported a record 71% of vacancies were difficult to fill, up from 68% in 2020.
The average starting wage offered by employers in Southwestern Oregon was $16.46 compared with $19.69 statewide.
Southwestern Oregon had generally lower educational requirements for vacancies than the Oregon average. Of the vacancies where an educational requirement is known, only about 18% in Southwestern Oregon required more than a high school education, compared with about 30% of Oregon vacancies requiring an education beyond high school. Almost 60% of Southwestern Oregon vacancies had no educational requirement compared with about 34% of Oregon vacancies that lacked any educational requirements.


Even with demand concentrated in leisure and hospitality, and health care and social services industries, businesses were hiring for a wide variety of occupations in 2021, reporting vacancies in 154 different occupations. Fast food and counter workers had the most vacancies at 407. Agriculture, transportation, food preparation, customer and personal service, and construction-related occupations had spots on the list of most vacancies.
The health care-related field had vacancies in several occupations including personal care aides with 159 vacancies. Others include nursing assistants (72), community health workers (52), and registered nurses (33).
Other occupations with a high number of vacancies include farmworkers and laborers (299), heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (259), food preparation workers (218), carpenters (167), and cashiers (164).

The 2021 Southwestern Oregon estimates are based on responses from 1,300 private employers with two or more employees who were surveyed throughout the year.
For more details on statewide and regional vacancies, visit https://www.qualityinfo.org/pubs and scroll down to the section titled “Job Vacancy Survey.”