This post is updated as of August 10, reflecting data through August 7. We will be regularly updating this data as we track how COVID-19 impacts the global labour market. 

Key points:

  • As of August 7th, the trend in total job postings on Indeed Canada stood at 27%, down slightly from the week prior. 
  • Like the Canadian labour market overall, postings are well up from their April lows, yet still have substantial ground to recover to return to normal.
  • The gap in new postings widened back to 17% below below 2019’s path, after spiking to just 1% below trend a week earlier. New postings can be volatile, particularly around public holidays, so it’s tough to make much about the downtick.
  • Job postings are fairly close to last year’s trend in a range of sectors, most of which typically require people to actually visit their workplace, such as nursing and construction. 

Total job postings on Indeed Canada eased compared to last year’s trend, as of Friday, August 7th, standing 27% below 2019 levels. The gap was -26% the previous Friday, up from -49% in early May. Prior to last week’s pause, job postings had been rising at a fairly steady rate, but a full recovery remained elusive.

Line graph shows recovery in Canadian job postings pauses.
Line graph titled “Recovery in Canadian job postings pauses”. With a vertical axis of -60%-10%, the line graph shows Indeed Canada total job postings, 2020 vs 2019 % gap in trend from February 14 – August 7. The data labels on the graph highlight every-other Friday since mid-March. Graph shows that job postings % gap plummeted from 0% to -49% from beginning of March to end of April. It started increasing again, but has paused at -27% from July 31-August 7. Caption added post-publication.

The slight deterioration in the total postings gap reflects a more substantial fall-back in new postings. The trend in new postings widened to 17% below last year’s level, after being just 1% below trend the prior Friday. Save for the brief jump-up at the end of July, the trend in new postings has been relatively flat since mid-July. That said, the data can be volatile, especially surrounding public holidays, so one down week doesn’t mean the start of a trend. 

Line graph shows new posting momentum cools to start August.
Line graph titled “New posting momentum cools to start August”. With a vertical axis ranging from -75% to 30%, the graph shows Indeed Canada new job postings, 2020 vs. 2019 % gap in trend through August 7. The data labels on the graph highlight every-other Friday since mid-March. Graph shows that job postings % gap plummeted from 15% to -70% from February 14 to April 17. It started increasing again, hitting 0% on July 31, but is back down to -17% on August 7. Caption added post-publication.

New postings volatile in smaller provinces

The Canada-wide gap in new postings trend on August 7th was about 1 percentage point lower than it was on July 17th. However, there’s been mixed movement underneath the relatively steady national number. Momentum improved somewhat in Quebec and PEI, while Ontario, B.C. and Alberta experienced slight weakening. Meanwhile, most smaller provinces saw their new postings gaps widen sharply, after in some cases surpassing 2019 levels. We’ll need more data to assess whether the recent downtick is more than a blip. 

Table shows mixed momentum in new postings across provinces.
Table title “Mixed momentum in new postings across provinces”. Table shows Indeed Canada new job postings: 2020 vs 2019 % gap in trend through Aug. 7 (7-day avg).Table compares 11 provinces, their % gap in trend, and their ppt. chg since July 17. Canada total had a -17% gap in trend, with -1% ppt. chg. New Brunswick had the lowest gap, with -9% gap in trend and -11% ppt. chg. Alberta had the highest gap, with -20% gap in trend and -3% ppt. Chg. Caption added post-publication.

Some sectors have seen major rebounds in postings

Despite the pause in recovery of total postings last week, job opportunities have seen substantial rebounds in several sectors of the economy. While they haven’t quite reached last year’s trend, gaps have closed sharply in construction, loading and stocking, as well as beauty and wellness (which include massage therapists and hairstylists), such that they stand closer to last year’s levels than the broader economy. Postings in nursing, which didn’t fall much earlier in the pandemic, are also doing better than average. One point in common across these sectors is that they feature jobs that usually aren’t done remotely. 

Table shows posting trends in some sectors starting to get back to normal.
Table title “Posting trends in some sectors starting to get back to normal.” Table shows Indeed Canada total job postings: 2020 vs 2019 % gap in trend through Aug. 7 (7-day avg.) Table compares sectors with a smaller gap than average, a gap similar to economy average, and a wider gap than average. Nursing, Loading & Stocking, Construction, and Beauty & Wellness have a Smaller than average. Nursing has the smallest gap, with 0% and a +13% ppt. chg. Installation & Maintenance, IT Operations & Helpdesk, Diving, Retail have a gap similar to average. Legal, Food Prep & Service, Marketing, and Sports have a wider gap. Sports has the widest gap, with -45% and a ppt. chg of +9%. Caption added post-publication.

Meanwhile, a wide range of areas are tracking the broader seen rebounds in posting trends. These include installation and maintenance, IT operations and helpdesk, driving, and retail. Lastly, several of the sectors where postings are furthest from their 2019 trends are in sectors particularly hit by the pandemic, like food preparation and service, as well as sports (which includes fitness instructors), as well certain white collar sectors like legal services, and marketing. 

The public health situation and its economic spillovers continue to change on a daily basis. We’ll be regularly updating this data as conditions evolve.

Methodology

To measure the trends in job postings, we calculated the 7-day moving average of the number of job postings on Indeed Canada. We index each day’s 7-day moving average to the start of February (Feb 1, 2020 = 100 for 2020 data, and so on).

We report how the trend in job postings this year differs from last year, in order to focus on the recent changes in labor market conditions due to COVID-19. For example: if job postings increased 30% from February 1, 2019, to April 10, 2019, but only 20% from February 1, 2020, to April 10, 2020, then the index would have risen from 100 to 130 in 2019 and 100 to 120 in 2020. The year-to-date trend in job postings would therefore be down 7.7% on April 10 (120 is 7.7% below 130) in 2020 relative to 2019.

For new postings, we calculate a similar metric but the underlying measure is the number of postings that have been on Indeed for seven days or less.

The number of job postings on Indeed.com, whether related to paid or unpaid job solicitations, is not indicative of potential revenue or earnings of Indeed, which comprises a significant percentage of the HR Technology segment of its parent company, Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. Job posting numbers are provided for information purposes only and should not be viewed as an indicator of performance of Indeed or Recruit. Please refer to the Recruit Holdings investor relations website and regulatory filings in Japan for more detailed information on revenue generation by Recruit’s HR Technology segment.