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.
The labor market looked slightly stronger in October than in September, buoyed by a revival in the supply chain. Business hiring for light industrial roles look likely to push the balance of pay upward in November:
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.
Again this month we are focusing on the differences between Pros' labor market preferences and their labor market outcomes. Here are the differences between the shares of Pros who had a specific type of job and the share who wanted it:
The gap between the share of Pros with full-time jobs and the share of Pros wanting full-time jobs dropped sharply in November, but this didn't necessarily signal an improvement in the labor market. It may have been the case that more Pros found full-time jobs, but it could also have been the case that there were a lot of new Pros who already held full-time jobs.
The latter explanation seems more likely. If we look at the tenure on the Instawork platform of the Pros who said they had full-time jobs, the average tenure in November was 479 days, whereas the average tenure in October was 521 days. This could in part be a seasonal effect, with many workers looking to earn extra money for and during the holidays.
In parallel with these results, the share of Pros wanting 51 hours of work or more minus the share who could get those hours fell steeply. But the unfulfilled desire for working hours grew in every other group:
These data suggest additional pressure on household budgets, with workers looking for more hours to make ends meet.
In November we also asked Pros whether they would accept the offer of a full-time job at a business where they had worked a shift via Instawork. More than half said they would, providing the pay met their expectations. Only 12% said they would definitely not accept the position:
About a quarter of Pros were happy to accept the hourly rate they had received for the shift, and another quarter wanted a higher rate; the actual option in the survey was "Only accept if the pay was a little higher." Pros appear to have a strong appetite for full-time positions based on positive experiences during their Instawork shifts.
The share of workers who identified as Black/African-American was close to its 12-month high in November, and the share of men working shifts also rose slightly:
Hourly pay at businesses posting shifts for production looks set to increase again, while the balance of businesses have pay steady or falling in most other sectors. Pay at businesses involved in maintenance continues to bounce around, with another drop set to following last month's widespread increases, which accompanied stronger demand for custodial shifts:
Hourly pay for several hospitality roles rose in November, though pay for cooks was largely flat. Despite the growth in warehouse shifts, pay hardly moved on average, likely to do increases in labor supply as referenced above. No major changes in pay are anticipated in December. Though hospitality roles will be in demand for the holidays, hourly pay does not necessarily rise; workers may be able to supplement their pay with higher tips.
