Key points 

  • Job postings mentioning vaccine requirements are still rare at the moment, but have grown by nearly five-fold as a share of postings on Indeed Canada since early July.  
  • Overall, total job postings on Indeed Canada were up 44% on August 27, compared to early February 2020, up somewhat from a month prior.  
  • Recent momentum in job postings extends beyond reopening sectors like food services, remaining broad-based instead. 

Job postings on Indeed Canada have been at elevated levels for several months, but a new trend is now becoming apparent: mentions of vaccine requirements are on the rise. As of August 27th, 0.11% (slightly over one per 1,000) English-language job postings included some mention of vaccine-related requirements in the job description, up from just 0.023% at the start of July, a nearly five-fold increase. 

Line graph titled “Vaccine requirement mentions rare but climbing.”
Line graph titled “Vaccine requirement mentions rare but climbing.” With a vertical axis from 0% to 0.12%, Indeed tracked the share of English-language Canadian job postings that mention vaccine requirements on a horizontal axis ranging from March 1, 2021 to August 27, 2021. As of August 27, 0.11% of job postings mentioned vaccine requirements, up from 0.023% on July 1. 

So far, vaccine requirements are mentioned at relatively high rates in job postings in healthcare, education, and social assistance. The five sectors of substantial size with the highest share of postings featuring such requirements included scientific research and development, community and social service, education, nursing, and therapy.

On the flip side, while several major white-collar employers have announced employee vaccine requirements, job postings in sales, information design and documentation, software development, accounting, and marketing were the areas least likely to mention vaccine requirements. Overall, while these requirements aren’t often mentioned in job postings at the moment, the situation is changing quickly, among both employers and policymakers.

Total job postings hit a new high

As of August 28, total job postings on Indeed Canada were up 44% from their February 1, 2020 levels, after adjusting for seasonal trends. Postings cleared their pre-pandemic level midway through February, following a 47% plunge at the start of the pandemic. Postings are up 12 percentage points since early July, aided by solid momentum in the pace of new postings being added.

Line graph titled “Canadian job postings well above pre-pandemic levels.”
Line graph titled “Canadian job postings well above pre-pandemic levels.” With a vertical axis ranging from -60% to 60%, Indeed tracked the percent change in total Canada job postings between February 1, 2020 and August 27, 2021. As of August 27, total job postings on Indeed Canada were up 44% from their February 1, 2020 levels.

Strength across provinces

Job postings are well above pre-pandemic levels across the country. Postings in B.C. are currently closest to their February 2020 levels, up a still solid 33%, while Manitoba is up 37%, boosted in recent weeks by a relaxing of public health restrictions. Meanwhile, demand far exceeds its pre-pandemic level in several provinces, including Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia, while Alberta and Quebec lead large provinces. 

Table titled “Job postings are strong across provinces.”
Table titled “Job postings are strong across provinces.” Indeed compared the change in Canada job postings between February 1, 2020 and August 27, 2021, across all provinces. Job postings are well above their pre-pandemic levels in all provinces.

Job postings still growing across a range of sectors

Job postings have continued to grow across most areas of the economy this summer. One standout has been food services, with the reopening of restaurants across the country, sending postings to 69% above its pre-pandemic level. However postings have also increased elsewhere to even higher levels compared to February 2020, including in software development, and loading and stocking. Demand for workers elsewhere has also resulted in rapid postings growth for human resources workers, to help facilitate the hiring process. Meanwhile, postings have also grown at a solid rate, similar to the economy-wide trend in a range of sectors including driving, management, and marketing.

Table titled “Job postings are well above pre-pandemic levels in almost all sectors.”
Table titled “Job postings are well above pre-pandemic levels in almost all sectors.” Indeed compared the percent change in total Canada job postings between February 1, 2020 and August 27, 2021, across various sectors divided into sections “Stronger than average,” “Similar to average.” and “Weaker than average.” Postings in some sectors are now well above where they were in early 2020, including software development, loading and stocking, human resources, and food preparation and service. 

By contrast, hiring appetite lags the broader economy in a few pandemic exposed sectors, though reopening has still helped send postings in sports, and beauty and wellness above their pre-pandemic levels. One exception to the rebound is in aviation, with demand for travel services still far from back to normal.  

Two key questions for the hiring landscape in the months ahead are whether the current elevated level of job opportunities persists, and if it does, how do employers respond? Besides the pandemic itself, both questions will be influenced by the future of government pandemic support programs for businesses and households, which are likely influencing to a degree both employer demand and job search activity. 

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

Jobs postings mentioning vaccine requirements include English language postings that feature one of an extensive list of terms such as “vaccine required”, “requires vaccination,” “must have COVID vaccine,” in their job description. To compare requirements across different areas of the economy, we focused on sectors with more than 5,000 total English language job posts in August 2021. 

All non-vaccine related figures in this blog post are the percentage change in seasonally-adjusted job postings since February 1, 2020, using a seven-day trailing average. February 1, 2020, is our pre-pandemic baseline. We seasonally adjust each series based on historical patterns in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Each series, including the national trend, occupational sectors, and sub-national geographies, is seasonally adjusted separately. This week we applied our quarterly revision, which updates seasonal factors and fixes data anomalies. Historical numbers have been revised and may differ from originally reported values.

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.