Employment - Jobs Available by Industry

Jobs Vacancies by Industry

The total number of job vacancies continued to fall from the benchmark of 7,970 job vacancies in April of 2007to where by October 2009 vacancy survey showed an overall decline of 63% (4,983) in job vacancies with only 2,987 according to the Washington State Employment Security Departments Vacancies Report. Since then, the number of vacancies has risen to over 4,300 in the Spring of 2011.

The industry groups with the most vacancies in Spring of 2011 are shown in the table below, ranked by the largest number of vacancies:

Overall, fewer of the vacancies are full time as well. In Spring 2009, 55.5% of the vacancies in Pierce County were considered full time positions compared to Spring 2011 when 48.6% of the vacancies are full time. The percentage of vacancies that require training or education beyond high school has also decreased. In the October 2008 report, 50% of all job openings in Pierce County required education beyond HS/GED compared to 42% in Spring 2011, and the percentage of jobs requiring a license or certificate decreased from 58% in 2008 to 54% in 2011.

The table below shows the educational requirements for vacancies found in Spring of 2011.

Source: Washington State Employment Security Division, Labor Market and Economic Analysis Branch, Job Vacancy Survey by WDA Fall 2008