In May 2022, job postings rose 10% with job closures up by 9%. The count of job closures outweighed new job postings during the month which drove a decline of 4% month-on-month in active jobs, according to GlobalData. The leading data and analytics company also found that the trending sectors by posted job growth were foodservice, financial services, and travel & tourism.

Retail was the only sector that saw a 1% growth for active jobs in May 2022, which highlights the demand for talent in this sector. However, job postings in retail fell by 2%, with companies likely wanting to close open positions before posting any newer jobs, especially since retail job closures dropped 18%.

Sherla Sriprada, Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Retail companies such as eBay, Bed Bath & Beyond, JD.com, and Target saw a decline in closures during May 2022, as these companies have not been able to close multiple roles that have been open since Q1 2022. Target has offered sign-on bonuses for specific roles posted in May 2022 in the hopes that it will attract talent and help close positions faster.”

Foodservice had a job posting growth of 24% in May 2022, followed by Financial Services (19%) and Travel and Tourism (11%). Each sector had more job closures than new job postings in May 2022.

The active job index for aerospace, defense & security (ADS) largely remained flat throughout 2022 and dipped in May 2022. During May, closures were up 24% over April, showcasing that firms were able to find the right talent for posted jobs.

Sriprada continues: “Companies are using incentives such as sign-on bonuses to attract more people and increase the number of job postings they can close. For example, in a recent announcement, Lockheed commented on a hiring drive for its C-130J and F-35 programs, with a $15,000 sign-on bonus. Additionally, Raytheon Technologies posted a job for ‘Flight Test Engineer/Mission Director’, with a minimum sign-on bonus of $40,000.”

There was a minor drop in demand in the financial services (FS) sector, but companies were still able to find talent as highlighted by the higher growth of job closures over job postings. Amid digitalization trends, blockchain and digital assets continue to gain traction in the FS sector. For example, JPMorgan is hiring for a new platform developed by Blockchain Launch through the ‘Onyx Digital Assets Product Manager – VP’ role, with a focus on developing blockchain and digital assets ecosystems.

Sriprada concludes: “Other heavy industries such as oil and gas, automotive and construction also had job closure growth higher than postings growth for May 2022. The automotive and construction sectors had job closure growth rates lower than ADS, which likely indicates that each sector could not find talent as quickly as the ADS sector.”