Policy- Searches for jobs paying $20 per hour have overtaken searches for $15/hour roles on Indeed, according to a new report.
- Year over year, queries for $20/hour jobs have jumped 35.5% while searches listing "$15" have fallen 57.3% in the same period.
Workers want higher wages, and it's showing in their job searches.
Job seekers are turning their search efforts away from jobs paying $15 an hour in favor of those paying $20 an hour, according to a new August report from Indeed's Hiring Lab.
The share of searches on Indeed mentioning "$20" has overtaken the percent of searches containing "$15," the report found. As of mid-August, the number of Indeed queries mentioning "$20" has grown 35.5% year over year, while searches listing "$15" have fallen 57.3% in the same period.
The change took place at a crucial time for American workers. The "$15" searches were more popular with job seekers throughout 2019 and much of 2020. But in April 2021, the share of searches mentioning "$20" rose to surpass those for "$15."
The reversal persists against the backdrop of a hot labor market emboldening workers to ask for more, as well as elevated inflation all but requiring them to do so. In addition, year-over-year wage growth for private employees in June and July was 5.2%.
"American workers haven't seen wage growth like this in well over a decade, maybe a couple decades," Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh recently told Insider.
The big raises, though dampened by inflation, likely also encouraged job seekers to boost their wage expectations.
Though job seekers want higher pay, they're not always getting it. A July survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that workers want almost $73,000 to take a new job, but they're actually only getting about $61,000.