Where are the greatest opportunities for employment and solid wage growth as the pandemic enters its third year? A new study from the consumer finance website MagnifyMoney compares employment growth to wage growth to find the industries with the largest labor shortages. Here are the best and worst:
Industries where wages are rising fastest relative to employment
No. 1: The accommodation industry (hotel desk clerks, housekeeping cleaners, waitstaff, etc.). It saw an 11.3% decrease in employment but an 11.2% increase in weekly wages—a difference of 22.5 percentage points. That makes it the industry where wages grew the fastest compared to employment.
No. 2: Motor vehicle and parts dealers. “Even with global supply chain issues making it harder for many dealers to get access to vehicles, millions of Americans have nonetheless been eager to purchase a car,” writes MagnifyMoney’s Jacob Channel. “In fact, revenues generated from both new and used car sales hit record highs in the first half of 2021.”
No. 3: Publishing industries (except internet). “Being cooped up in their homes for months on end through much of the pandemic, many people turned to entertainment—in particular, reading books as a form of escape,” Channel adds. “This resulted in the physical publishing industry having a good last two years.”
Industry where wages are rising slowest relative to employment
In contrast, the warehousing and storage industry saw an 18.2% increase in employment but only a 1.5% increase in weekly wages—a negative difference of 16.6 percentage points.
Though many logistics companies have seen significant increases in revenue during the pandemic, wages in the warehousing and storage industry have remained relatively stagnant.
As was the case in many other industries, the pandemic resulted in the broader sports, hobby, musical instrument and bookstore industry seeing a substantial increase in sales.
While this increase prompted the industry to hire a large number of workers, it hasn’t resulted in significantly higher wages for those workers.
Because of this, employers might be attempting to keep wage growth to a minimum to save money and prepare for what could be perceived as an inevitable return to pre-pandemic norms.
THE COMPLETE STUDY FINDINGS ARE FOUND HERE
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
