The post-pandemic honeymoon period for new job seekers is ending as the labor market cools to pre-COVID levels.
Hiring rates, quit rates and job openings per unemployed worker have all returned to early 2020 figures in the U.S., with just 1.2 jobs available per seeker — down from a fantasy ratio of 2:1 at its April 2022 peak. Further, according to Resume.io’s new study, the number of applicants per job has risen in every U.S. state in the 12 months since we last analyzed job competition in 2023.
However, there are more encouraging signs in the market. Unemployment in the U.S. has reached a “historically low mark” and there are significantly more job openings in total right now than before the pandemic — with a similar outlook around much of the world. Plus, the recruitment crisis of recent years aligned perfectly with the coming of age of the idealistic Gen Z workforce, giving applicants and employees alike the leverage to push for better conditions in the workplace.
Still, with competition on the rise and an increasingly mobile or remote workforce, it helps to know where the job market is most competitive. That is why we analyzed 104,260 LinkedIn job ads around the U.S. and major global cities to find out.
What we did
We calculated the average number of applicants that job ads receive within one week of being posted on LinkedIn Jobs in 122 global cities and every U.S. state. We then compared them to our 2023 report to identify the cities where job competition has increased the most over the past year.
Key findings
- Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, has the world’s most competitive job market, with an average of 285.21 applicants per LinkedIn job ad.
- The average job ad in San Jose, CA, attracts 153.77 applicants — the most of any U.S. city.
- Job competition in Seattle, WA, has increased by 445.4% over the past year — the fastest of any global market.
- Wyoming is the least competitive state to find a job, with an average of 3.64 applicants per LinkedIn ad.
The global job markets that are getting more competitive
The 10 most competitive global job markets are all in the United Arab Emirates or North America. But the top two — Dubai and San Jose — are significantly more competitive than the rest. We found that an average of 285.21 people apply within one week for every job listed by a company in Dubai and 153.77 for each vacancy in San Jose. Both cities are also among the 20 global markets where competition has risen the most over the past 12 months (see second chart below), with the applicants per job rising by 0.8% in Dubai and 42.9% in San Jose.
We identified Dubai as the world’s second-most competitive market in 2023, and this year, it has leapfrogged Doha into first place — thanks in part to a significant fall in competition in Doha. In Dubai, as in third-placed Abu Dhabi, there is no personal income tax to pay. Competition may be especially fierce due to the number of migrants arriving on a job exploration visa without a job in place.
“The UAE has a lot to offer candidates with good weather, tax-free earnings and a multicultural lifestyle, which is bringing a lot of expats over in the expectation that they will be able to find a job easily when they arrive,” says Gareth El Mettouri, director for the Middle East at recruitment firm Robert Half.
Meanwhile, job competition in Seattle is increasing at the fastest rate in the world, with the number of applicants per job rising from 7.5 to 40.9 (445.4%) year over year. Luxembourg and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, are also among the six global cities that have seen competition rates double since 2023, along with Houston, San Diego and Los Angeles.
This pushes Seattle into the top 10 most competitive U.S. cities (see below). Around 36% of Seattle’s residents continue to work from home, against a U.S. average of 15%, making it an attractive prospect — but tech layoffs have added thousands of job seekers to the local market.
The most and least competitive U.S. states for jobs
Washington has the most competitive U.S. job market, driven by a vast increase in applicants per role in the Seattle area (see above). There are 41.00 applicants per job in Washington, significantly more than the next most competitive states, Colorado (28.11) and Massachusetts (27.81).
Things aren’t as fierce all over; we found 12 states with fewer than 10 applicants per advertisement, including five with fewer than five per ad. Wyoming is the least competitive of all, with 3.64 applicants for each job.
With a few notable exceptions, the most competitive states tend to be on the East Coast. New York is the fourth-most competitive, with 25.49 applicants per job. Graduates continue to flood New York City at increasing rates while job growth remains slow. Competition for each role in the state has risen by 25.6% year over year; however, this is among the smallest increases for any state.
In fact, we found that every state has seen an overall rise in competition, with the number of applicants doubling or more in 17 states. The rise in competition is most profound in Wisconsin, where there are 8.14 times more applicants per job than 12 months ago. That’s a 714.0% rise, next to 436.9% in second-placed Pennsylvania.
Wisconsin’s astonishing competition rates occur at a moment when employment levels in the state have reached a record high of 3.05 million, while the local unemployment rate is 1.1% below the national average.
“These numbers validate what we know is true,” says Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Amy Pechacek: “Wisconsin residents are eager to work, employers are eager to employ them, and DWD endeavors to support sustainable employment opportunities for all.”
The most and least competitive U.S. cities to find a job
On a city-to-city basis, San Jose is the most competitive job market in the U.S. and the second-most competitive in the world. The number of applicants per job in San Jose has risen from 107.6 last year to 153.77 in 2024, leapfrogging the city from seventh to second place globally. Waves of tech layoffs have left thousands seeking work at a moment when California suffered the lowest job growth in the country.
“The pandemic was a bonanza for the tech industry, which did some over-hiring,” says Russell Hancock, president of San Jose think tank Joint Venture Silicon Valley. “Our largest tech employers did some re-calibrating. Tech companies have been doing some right-sizing.”
Meanwhile, the least competitive U.S. city is Jacksonville, with an average of 10.80 applicants per job. Jacksonville had America’s second-hottest job market over the past year, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), with workers arriving en masse to enjoy the “plentiful job opportunities, wage growth, affordability and recreational offerings.” The WSG notes that many companies have relocated their offices or warehouses from the Northeast Corridor to Jacksonville, where over 150 firms now maintain their “corporate, regional and divisional headquarters.”
Strategy for success
With hundreds of competitors applying for the best jobs as soon as they appear, maintaining morale and motivation is essential to any job seeker’s strategy. Harvard Business Review suggests keeping a list of accomplishments to read afresh every morning so your confidence doesn’t falter during a long search. They also recommend forming or joining a support network for tips and to avoid isolation. Networking in this way has an added bonus: since the figures above represent applications made within seven days of a job being advertised, expanding your network may be the best way to hear about jobs before they reach the masses.
Methodology & sources
To find out which cities have the most and least competitive job markets in 2024, we calculated the average number of applicants that job advertisements receive within one week of being posted on LinkedIn Jobs in 122 global cities and every U.S. state.
NOTES:
- We considered ‘in-office’ or ‘hybrid-working’ job ads posted within any industry.
- We compared the 2024 values for each city with our 2023 report to assess the cities where job competition has increased the most in the last 12 months.
- The total sample of job ads in this study is 104,260.
- This data analysis was completed in July 2024.
