Every day, the Instawork platform handles thousands of transactions involving businesses and hourly professionals, generating a huge amount of data on hourly pay as well as other aspects of the labor market. This report summarizes some of the major trends in demographics, roles, and worker constraints in regions across the United States.
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The data are also compiled into the Instawork Pay Signal Index (PSI) and indexed trends in hourly pay. Because businesses can book shifts in advance on the Instawork platform, the metrics include forward-looking data for the current month as well. Please refer to the appendix for explanations of the methods behind each metric.
A decent majority of businesses raised pay in July, after advance bookings showed pay trending downward. Businesses are again trying to lower hourly pay in August, but the same sequence of events could repeat:
Our in-app surveys track Pros' labor market situations on a monthly basis. For details on methods and questionnaires, please see the Methodological Appendix below.
Here is the distribution of Pros by the jobs they worked up through the reference week (17 July 2023) this month:
Work in full-time and part-time jobs rose in July, as Pros showed a slight shift in preference toward permanent positions rather than app-based or temporary work:
This is a small change, but the greater numbers of Pros seeking and attaining full-time and part-time jobs could suggest precautionary behavior as a result of uncertainty about the labor market. More Pros also wanted no job, with the share off Pros working 0-10 hours increasing again in July. In fact, all other categories besides 31-40 hours shrank slightly during the month:
This was in opposition to the hours Pros wanted to work – a smaller share wanted 0-10 hours than in June, even though many more actually did:
Summer vacations could interfere with these numbers somewhat; we will have a better idea of the health of the labor market in September.
In July we also asked Pros about their health insurance, including private insurance coverage via relatives:
More than 70% of Pros say they are covered by health insurance of some kind. Eligible Pros who work shifts with W-2 tax treatment are also offered insurance. Still, the most common type of insurance among our Pros is provided by the government. A smaller share of Pros said they had purchased insurance themselves than the national average of 10%. As flexible work becomes more common, the option to purchase affordable insurance is likely to become more important.
The share of men working shifts on the platform increased for the first time since February, and the share of Black/African-American workers dropped for the first time since March:
A sustained increase in men using the platform might signify a worsening of their other options in the labor market. But right now it is too early to say whether these trends signify a shift in the broader economy.
Except in building and grounds cleaning, a slight majority of businesses raised pay in July. In the sectors with the biggest increases, businesses are trying to push pay rates back down in August. These reductions are most likely to stick in hospitality, where the summer season is winding up in many markets:
Hourly pay for concession or stand workers and dishwashers rose slightly in July but was steady for other hospitality roles. In August, concession and stand workers may return to their peak pay from May 2022, when a surge of spending on leisure and hospitality sent rates steeply higher. Pay for entry-level warehouse roles also ticked up, but pay for intermediate warehouse and general labor roles stabilized:
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