Every day, the Instawork platform handles thousands of transactions involving businesses and hourly workers, generating a huge amount of data on hourly pay as well as other aspects of the labor market. This brief includes Instawork Pay Signal Index, indexed trends in hourly pay for hourly positions and a summary of labor market situation for Instawork Professionals (Pros). Since businesses can book shifts in advance on the Instawork platform, the metrics include forward-looking data for the current month as well.
The labor market as a whole looked slightly weaker in February, though demand for flexible labor continued to push up hourly rates for some positions. Businesses raised and lowered pay in roughly equal numbers, and this behavior is expected to continue into March. You can read more about the Instawork Pay Signal Index methodology here.
Instawork's National Hourly Pay Trend data provides a unique lens into pay trends, offering insights that can inform labor planning. This analysis focuses on the data from April 2024 to March 2025, revealing patterns and potential implications for businesses relying on hourly workers.
The overall Light Industrial segment shows a consistent increase over several months, with a flattening in February that is projected to continue into March. Entry level Warehouse Associates saw hourly pay remain flat since the start of the year, but projected to see noticeable increase in March potentially reflecting anticipated demand. General Labor pay saw a continued but marginal decline from its annual high in December, typical following the holiday season. Forklift Drivers also saw a slight decrease in February. This decline in pay for both positions is expected to continue into March.
While the hospitality sector exhibits a steady cooling off trend after the seasonal highs in Q4 2024. But this trend is expected to reverse in March. Dishwashers and Line Cooks saw a slight increase, while Prep Cooks experienced a decrease. Bussers saw a significant increase, breaking a two month trend of decreasing pay following seasonal high during the recent holiday season. Baristas and Bartenders similarly saw a slight decrease in February. Counter Staff/Cashiers saw the highest jump. Looking ahead to March 2025, advanced bookings on Instawork suggest most hospitality positions are projected to decrease.
For businesses, these trends imply a need for cautious optimism. While the overall labor market might be cooling, specific roles like Forklift Drivers and Prep Cooks are still experiencing relatively strong demand. Labor planners should closely monitor these fluctuations and adjust their hiring strategies accordingly.
We survey Pros' labor market situations on a monthly basis. In February, our Pros had a somewhat easier time finding flexible work on Instawork but there was more scarcity in full-time and part-time opportunities and other forms of temporary work besides shifts on the Instawork platform.
Instawork Pros had an easier time finding between 11-30 hours of work per week in February. There was increasing difficulty for Pros who wanted to work more than 30 hours.
Unexpected economic or policy changes, and rapid shifts in demand can all impact pay trends. Our forecasts are based on current data, and we continuously monitor the market for emerging factors. Stay tuned to Instawork's blog for ongoing analysis and insights into the hourly labor market.
The Pay Signal Index is the weighted ratio of Partners who have increased, decreased or not changed their hourly pay. We've mapped Instawork positions to Census Bureau's occupational groups that are representative of ~42% of US hourly workers. Starting this month, we are presenting reorganized, rebalanced, and re-indexed statistics with April 2024 as their base. You can read more about the Instawork Pay Signal Index methodology here.
