Labor Market Report for July 2nd, 2020

The West Philadelphia Skills Initiative (WPSI) | Labor Market Report | November 5, 2020

Every week, we will be publishing labor market industry (LMI) data and important trends to consider in the development of an equitable economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. We are always looking for opportunities to learn, grow, and collaborate. Email wpsi@universitycity.org to learn more.

Last week, we took a close look at how one company, Amazon, is singlehandedly altering the availability of jobs in the retail sector. This week, we are going to highlight some smaller but equally important shifts from other major Philadelphia employers. 

To begin, we looked at the number of job postings in the City of Philadelphia, sorted by company, in our baseline week ending February 15th, and compared it to the week ending June 27th. We also filtered out job postings that explicitly required a bachelor’s degree or higher, since the total number of postings in BA+ occupations has seen a sharp decline, while lower wage jobs postings have recovered more quickly. (For more, see our blog post from June 22nd).  

Back in mid-February, the ten companies with the most postings requiring less than a bachelor’s degree posted a total of 451 jobs. By June 27th, the same companies posted only a combined 179 jobs, a 61% decrease. Some amount of this change can be attributed to seasonality or individual business decisions, but looking at the companies listed we see the steep declines have come from companies in the Hospitality, IT, and Healthcare sectors, some of the industries most impacted by COVID-19 shutdowns.  

Business 

Feb. 15th  

Jun. 27th  

Aramark 

80 

Penn Medicine 

64 

43 

Elsevier 

62 

Health Care Service Corporation 

56 

University of Pennsylvania 

43 

Thomas Jefferson University & Jefferson Health 

39 

61 

University of Pennsylvania Health System 

30 

IBM 

29 

33 

Wells Fargo 

24 

14 

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia 

24 

Total: 

451 

179 

 

Next, we looked at the same chart but with the dates reversed. These companies posted the most jobs with sub-BA requirements in the week ending June 27th. Just like with the first set of companies, seasonal differences can account for some change, but this basket of companies saw their postings increase by 82% since February. A few names appear on both lists, including anchor institutions like Penn Medicine and Jefferson University, plus big firms like IBM and Wells Fargo. The companies with the biggest jumps include the Philadelphia Nanny Network (in-home child care), Allied Universal (Security), and Endeavor Agency (Staffing), all of which reflect the massive changes in work during COVID-19.  

 

Business 

Feb. 15th 

Jun. 27th  

Philadelphia Nanny Network Incorporated 

72 

Penn Medicine 

64 

43 

Thomas Jefferson University 

19 

35 

IBM 

29 

33 

Thomas Jefferson University & Jefferson Health 

39 

61 

Endeavor Agency 

26 

Allied Universal 

19 

35 

Restaurant Depot 

19 

Temple University Health System 

16 

Wells Fargo 

24 

14 

Total 

194 

354 

 

Even as the total number of job postings continues to improve, it is important to remember that labor is less “elastic” than business. The market changes quickly, but individual workers need time to train and learn different skills as job availability changes, not to mention ensuring that work is meaningful and fulfilling. The challenge faced by institutions, policy makers, and workforce development professionals is to both recognize the speed at which work is changing and to equip workers with the tools and skills necessary to make those shifts. Much like COVID-19 has sped up the shift from brick and mortar to online retail by 3-5 years, it will also hasten changes already playing out in the labor market. One of our goals at the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative is to ensure we are evolving, too, to keep pace with the changes in the employment landscape. 

 

 

This Week 

Change from baseline (Feb. 15th) 

Chance from prior week (Jun. 27th) 

Industry, 2-digit NAICS code 

Phila Metro 

Phila City 

Phila Metro 

Phila City 

Phila Metro 

Phila City 

Health Care & Social Asst. (62) 

3463 

1165 

-20% 

-20% 

9% 

8% 

Prof, Scientific and Tech Services (54) 

1027 

460 

-26% 

-26% 

-2% 

7% 

Retail Trade (44-45) 

2209 

216 

47% 

17% 

-7% 

-8% 

Finance & Insurance (52)  

997 

270 

-27% 

-32% 

5% 

0% 

Accommodation & Food (72) 

1457 

359 

35% 

-7% 

44% 

40% 

Manufacturing (31-33) 

1037 

194 

-12% 

-9% 

10% 

-6% 

Admin, Support, Waste MGMT, Remediation (56) 

846 

210 

-14% 

-2% 

21% 

26% 

Educational Services (61) 

667 

314 

-21% 

-14% 

17% 

43% 

Transportation & Warehousing (48-49) 

675 

124 

-12% 

14% 

47% 

-27% 

Information (51) 

416 

157 

-16% 

-19% 

70% 

118% 

Other Services (81) 

546 

107 

-2% 

51% 

56% 

70% 

Public Admin (92) 

229 

124 

-35% 

-14% 

-16% 

43% 

Real Estate & Rental Leasing (53) 

459 

108 

65% 

1% 

18% 

-2% 

Construction (23) 

310 

62 

-9% 

27% 

-1% 

-32% 

Arts, Entertainment & Recreation (71)  

283 

71 

64% 

78% 

123% 

61% 

Wholesale Trade (42) 

73 

199 

-9% 

1321% 

52% 

3217% 

Utilities (22) 

52 

10 

53% 

-9% 

37% 

11% 

Mining, Quarrying, Oil & Gas Extraction (21) 

49 

14 

69% 

100% 

158% 

367% 

Management, Companies & Enterprises (55) 

28 

75% 

-20% 

-3% 

-43% 

Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting (11) 

20 

-26% 

-57% 

54% 

0% 

Unspecified  

4057 

1469 

-13% 

-1% 

-4% 

1% 

Total 

18900 

5640 

-8% 

-7 

9% 

13% 

 

About the data: Data is sourced from Burning Glass Technologies Labor Insights, unless otherwise noted, covering job postings in the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Metro Statistical Area (MSA), which is comprised of roughly a circle surrounding Trenton, Philadelphia, King of Prussia, Camden, and Wilmington. This data is then compared to a benchmark week of February 9th – 15th, which was the last week before the economic impact of COVID-19 began to be reflected in job posting data.  

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