Information sector openings
Is the wider tech and media sector hiring?
Contributes to: Are fewer people needed?. Signal score: 40 / 100. Relative weight within this question: 1.
StatusHiring less
Latest value94K
Year over year-26%
Distance from high-61%
Caution
This is the whole US information sector, including telecoms, publishing, film and broadcasting, not just software. For software roles, see the Jobs signal.
Hiring also moves with the economy and interest rates, not only AI.
Observed trend
US information sector job openings, rolling 12-month average, in thousands.
US information sector job openings, rolling 12-month average, in thousands. · 2019-12 – 2026-08
View data table
| Period / observation | US information sector job openings, rolling 12-month average, in thousands. |
|---|---|
| 2019-12 | 141 |
| 2020-01 | 140 |
| 2020-02 | 140 |
| 2020-03 | 138 |
| 2020-04 | 139 |
| 2020-05 | 134 |
| 2020-06 | 131 |
| 2020-07 | 126 |
| 2020-08 | 122 |
| 2020-09 | 117 |
| 2020-10 | 115 |
| 2020-11 | 112 |
| 2020-12 | 111 |
| 2021-01 | 115 |
| 2021-02 | 113 |
| 2021-03 | 112 |
| 2021-04 | 113 |
| 2021-05 | 118 |
| 2021-06 | 122 |
| 2021-07 | 135 |
| 2021-08 | 144 |
| 2021-09 | 152 |
| 2021-10 | 159 |
| 2021-11 | 167 |
| 2021-12 | 178 |
| 2022-01 | 183 |
| 2022-02 | 195 |
| 2022-03 | 208 |
| 2022-04 | 222 |
| 2022-05 | 229 |
| 2022-06 | 235 |
| 2022-07 | 237 |
| 2022-08 | 237 |
| 2022-09 | 237 |
| 2022-10 | 238 |
| 2022-11 | 238 |
| 2022-12 | 224 |
| 2023-01 | 213 |
| 2023-02 | 204 |
| 2023-03 | 195 |
| 2023-04 | 183 |
| 2023-05 | 177 |
| 2023-06 | 170 |
| 2023-07 | 162 |
| 2023-08 | 158 |
| 2023-09 | 147 |
| 2023-10 | 138 |
| 2023-11 | 132 |
| 2023-12 | 137 |
| 2024-01 | 142 |
| 2024-02 | 141 |
| 2024-03 | 141 |
| 2024-04 | 135 |
| 2024-05 | 132 |
| 2024-06 | 128 |
| 2024-07 | 124 |
| 2024-08 | 120 |
| 2024-09 | 122 |
| 2024-10 | 128 |
| 2024-11 | 126 |
| 2024-12 | 123 |
| 2025-01 | 117 |
| 2025-02 | 117 |
| 2025-03 | 115 |
| 2025-04 | 119 |
| 2025-05 | 118 |
| 2025-06 | 119 |
| 2025-07 | 124 |
| 2025-08 | 128 |
| 2025-09 | 128 |
| 2025-10 | 123 |
| 2025-11 | 121 |
| 2025-12 | 121 |
| 2026-01 | 121 |
| 2026-02 | 117 |
| 2026-03 | 114 |
| 2026-04 | 109 |
| 2026-05 | 106 |
| 2026-06 | 103 |
| 2026-07 | 95 |
| 2026-08 | 94 |
What it measures
- Metric
- US information sector job openings, average over the last 12 months, in thousands
- Solved if
- Openings keep falling
- Signal score
- 40 / 100. Down 61% since ChatGPT launched. How it is scored
- Status rule
- Hiring more when average openings are higher than a year before.
How this fits with Jobs
Both show a big fall since 2022. They differ over the last year because they measure different things.
- Since ChatGPT launched, average openings here are down 61%, and Indeed's software postings are down 48%.
- The Jobs signal counts software roles on Indeed, up 24% in a year. This one covers the whole sector, including telecoms, publishing and media, and averages 12 noisy months, so it reacts more slowly.
- The sector averaged 74K hires and 46K layoffs a month over the same 12 months.
Update history
The reading on each date we checked, separate from the historical observations above.
| Date | Value | Year over year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-11-02 | 94K | -26% | Hiring less |
| 2026-11-01 | 94K | -26% | Hiring less |
Source
| Source | Role | Measures | Latest data |
|---|---|---|---|
| BLS job openings and hires | Scored measurement | US information sector openings, hires and layoffs | 2026-08 |