Employers find ways to pay less for the same work

In the months following the pandemic, employers conducted mass recruitment.

Julia Pollak, an economist at ZipRecruiter, says it was “a frenzy of feeding, a war for talent, with salaries going higher and higher.”

But new data shows workers have lost much of the ground they enjoyed in 2021 and 2022 as businesses scramble to tighten their belts.

ZipRecruiter data shared with Scripps News shows that the number of applications per job posting is up an average of 13% compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, in industries such as retail, agriculture, transportation and manufacturing, average salaries across job positions have fallen significantly compared to last year.

Pollak says a trend that started last year among white-collar workers has spread to blue-collar workers.

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“We’re actually seeing a pullback in wage growth in these blue-collar sectors. We’ve seen three of the last six or seven jobs reports where jobs were lost in the leisure and hospitality sector. Those jobs, which are like the first rung on the ladder in the labor market, are seeing a decline in demand for workers and less attractive working conditions,” Pollak said.

Changes can also be seen among white-collar workers, from the abolition of signing bonuses to a refusal to negotiate salary with potential employees.

Brandi Britton is a principal at Robert Half, an international recruiting agency.

“Certainly hiring has been more deliberate this year. I think you’re seeing those weird things get eliminated — like really big signing bonuses, really big salary increases,” Britton said.

But Pollak and Britton don’t believe all the benefits workers have enjoyed during the pandemic — from remote work to higher wages — will disappear.

“I think a lot of this stuff is going to be the norm. Employees generally expect it,” Britton said.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, average hourly earnings have increased by nearly 23% since February 2020, representing a net increase in workers’ average purchasing power compared with 2019.

“Yes, there are reasons to be concerned that some of those gains could be erased. But we’re not there yet, and the Fed has a lot of room to cut rates and keep the party going,” Pollak said.

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