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.
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:
After rising in August and September, the gaps in Pros with full-time and part-time jobs came down slightly in October, suggesting an improving labor market. But Pros were somewhat less satisfied with their ability to find work via the Instawork app (though the level is still lower than when we began tracking data in March) and via other apps.
In terms of hours, the shares of Pros able to work 31 to 50 hours per week coincided almost exactly with preferences. But the share of Pros who wanted to work 51 hours or more grew relative to the share who wanted so much work:
Taken together, these data suggest a strengthening labor market, albeit mainly versus September and not previous months.
In September we also asked Pros how long they could commit to a position that offered five shifts per week. A clear majority said they could commit to at least a month, with more than half ready to commit for three months or more:
Only 8% of Pros said they couldn't commit for at least a week. Along with the gaps between actual kinds of work and preferred kinds of work, this is further evidence that Pros are underemployed in steady positions relative to their willingness to work. Instawork is offering an increasing number of long-term assignments to help rectify this problem.
Demographics in the Pro labor pool were fairly steady in October, though there was an uptick in the share of active Pros who identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino:
Hourly pay at businesses posting shifts for production looks set to increase for the third month in a row, as the supply chain heats up following the wave of inventory reductions that began earlier this year. While other light industrial roles see steady pay, hospitality and other service pay may be headed downward next month. Pay at businesses involved in maintenance continues to bounce around, with increases anticipated after two months of widespread drops, mirroring the increasing demand for custodial shifts:
Again reflecting demand for custodial shifts, hourly pay is expected to rise in November and resume the trend that began in the summer of 2022. High-skill warehouse roles, which are also in strong demand as logistics businesses automate their operations, saw rising pay again in October and may have further increases in November. As above, the balance in the labor market for leisure and hospitality may be shifting toward supply rather than demand, with pay expected to decline somewhat.
