The gap between job switchers and stayers has widened in recent months. In June, the 12-month moving average of wage gains for those who switched jobs was 3.8%, while those who stayed saw 3.1% growth. In September, the 12-month moving average for job switchers jumped to 4.3%, while gains for job stayers increased slightly to 3.2%.
"This is usually the case outside of the current environment," said Brett Ryan, senior U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank. "Job switchers do well — you're not going to move unless you're getting paid more."Workers are taking note of rising wages and using this moment to go for jobs that would mean a bigger paycheck.
Since February 2020, job-seeker interest has skyrocketed for higher paying jobs such as civil engineering, IT and help desk, media and communications and software development, according toAt the same time, job-seeker interest has plummeted for in-person, lower wage positions such as child care, food preparation and service, personal and health care, and loading and stocking.