Economy
Amazon Is Helping to Drive Double-Digit Growth in Job Openings in the Seattle Area
Seattle ranked as the leading major market for job openings as of October, Glassdoor study finds
By Bill Conroy October 30, 2019
Driven by a thriving tech industry, the Seattle area recorded the fastest growth in job openings year over year as of October of the 10 major cities analyzed by online job site Glassdoor.
Job openings in Seattle were up 15.5% over the period, with 122,950 job openings offering a median base pay of $64,639. That pay figure was up 2.4% in October, compared with the prior-year period, the report shows.
By comparison, job-opening growth nationally for the period was 5.1%, with median base pay up 2.1%, to $54,327.
In Seattle, the growth in job openings is dominated by new openings in the internet and tech industry, Glassdoor reports. Seattle-based tech giant Amazon recently announced plans to hire tens of thousands of permanent and temporary holiday workers in the coming months. As one of the largest employers in the Seattle metro area, changes in Amazons hiring plans are large enough to affect local labor market trends.
Trailing Seattle in job-opening growth was Boston, with a 12.2% jump over the 12-month period, followed by Philadelphia, at 8.4%; Washington, D.C., 6.5%; and Atlanta, 5.1%.
As one of the worlds largest job sites, Glassdoors Job Market Report offers real-time glimpse of hiring trends and wage growth in the U.S., based on millions of online jobs and salaries posted on its platform.