Yahoo Finance One year into the pandemic and staffing for events remains decimated
The number of job advertisements for events venues – concerts, sporting events, hiring fairs, conferences – remains a small fraction of pre-pandemic levels, in spite of the recent increases in hospitality sector hiring. According to labor market intelligence firm Greenwich.HR, the number of job listings for events staff during Q1 2021 was only 30% the level of a year prior.
Using data from 26 major US markets, Greenwich.HR compared the number of job listings as well as the average expected payrates for workers for entertainment events during the first 12 weeks of 2021 and 2020. Overall, job listings remain 69.8% lower than during early 2020. The markets with the smallest decreases include Jacksonville (-30%), Columbus (-47%), and Atlanta (-50%).
“While events staffing is depressed in all markets, some markets are showing a growing demand for events management staff, which is also showing up in higher average pay levels,” said Cary Sparrow, CEO of Greenwich.HR. “This suggests those markets may be anticipating earlier returns of events.”
The average market saw pay levels drop by 1%, but there are some notable exceptions. Twelve of the markets showed an increase in advertised pay levels, with Boston (+20%), Raleigh (+13%), Baltimore (+11%) and Washington DC (+8%) leading the gainers.
This analysis is based on job listing data from the first 12 weeks of 2020 and 2021. Greenwich.HR tracks the hiring and pay behaviors of over 4.1 million organizations. Additional analytics of companies’ hiring patterns is available from Greenwich.HR through Yahoo Finance Plus. Not a subscriber? Start your free trial today.*
