RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – The labor market in North Carolina and the U.S. is steadily bouncing back, as nationwide weekly unemployment claims recently dropped to a new 52-year low and the number of available jobs rose to 11 million in October. In fact, there are fewer people seeking jobs than there are openings across the Triangle.

The North Carolina Department of Commerce’s labor supply and demand tool shows that in October 2021, there were 83,821 job seekers and 120,163 job openings in the state’s North Central Prosperity Zone, which includes the Triangle area. That means the zone’s supply/demand gap currently stands at 0.7 job seekers per opening.

This is a notable change from 2020 and early-2021 when the number of job seekers exceeded the number of available positions. Meanwhile, North Carolina’s unemployment rate has been in a steady decline all year. The seasonally adjusted rate was 4.1% in October 2021, compared to 6.8% in October 2020.

And the shortage may not end any time soon, so says N.C. State economist Dr. Mike Walden.

“While there’s hope the lack of workers will be resolved as the pandemic ultimately disappears, some experts are not so optimistic. In fact, for years many demographers have been warning of a permanent worker shortage in the coming decades. It may just be that the pandemic brought the shortage earlier,” he says.

A look at labor supply and demand in NC's North Central Prosperity Zone, which includes the Triangle. (Data and graphic via the NC Department of Commerce)

A look at labor supply and demand in NC’s North Central Prosperity Zone, which includes the Triangle. (Data and graphic via the NC Department of Commerce)

Overall, job openings are continuing to surge across the Triangle, but hiring activity is more in flux: Every Sunday, WRAL TechWire tracks the total number of Triangle-area jobs on major job boards. In our latest count, the week-to-week totals fell on some sites. Adzuna, for example, shows over 9,000 fewer jobs in Wake and Durham counties compared to the same time last week. ZipRecruiter also indicates a drop of about 2,100 jobs in Raleigh.

The shifting jobs environment isn’t just taking place in the Triangle. Fewer people are losing jobs as employers are “hanging on to workers for dear life,” reports CNN.

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However, the totals increased modestly on other job boards. ZipRecruiter shows 414 more jobs in Durham and 325 more jobs in Chapel Hill than it did a week ago. Indeed.com also displays 555 more jobs in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill compared to last week.

WRAL TechWire’s weekly Jobs Report compiles the latest information from the region’s top job boards, offering a breakdown of how many jobs are posted, which companies are hiring, and what positions are most in demand. We’ve also included upcoming job fairs, student-centric resources, and a list of Twitter accounts that track local job openings.

Here’s what’s new since last week’s Jobs Report.

National Job Boards

Here’s a look at the total number of local jobs posted on national job boards compared to last week, as of Sunday afternoon.

  • Adzuna:
    • ⇓ Wake County: 42,969 jobs (-4,897 from a week ago)
    • ⇓ Raleigh: 25,036 (-590)
    • ⇓ Durham County: 10,431 (-4,627)
  • Dice.com (using the 5-mile radius filter):
    • ⇓ Raleigh: 16,930 (-460)
    • ⇓ Durham: 16,716 (-451)
    • ⇓ Chapel Hill: 16,520 (-430)
  • Glassdoor 36,721 jobs across the Research Triangle Park area (+84)
  • Indeed (5-mile radius filter):
    • ⇑ Raleigh: 17,532 (+198)
    • ⇑ Durham: 10,407 (+200)
    • ⇑ Chapel Hill: 4,195 (+157)
  • InHerSight: Pages upon pages of jobs across the RTP area
  • LinkedIn (using the “exact location” and “0-miles” filters):
    • ⇓ Raleigh: 28,346 (-1,441), with 6,985 jobs posted in the past week
    • ⇑ Durham: 14,782 (+71), with 2,732 jobs posted in the past week
    • ⇑ Chapel Hill: 2,624 (+88), with 487 jobs posted in the past week
  • Remote Tech Jobs: Several remote jobs offered by Triangle-area employers
  • ZipRecruiter (5-mile filter):
    • ⇓ Raleigh: 28,865 (-2,106)
    • ⇑ Durham: 14,947 (+414)
    • ⇑ Chapel Hill: 4,032 (+325)

Startup Job Search Sites

Aside from the boards above, job seekers can also find local startup jobs at SimplyHired (278 startup jobs near Research Triangle Park), LinkedIn (8,636 results in and around Raleigh), Indeed (380 startup jobs in/near RTP) and AngelList (job openings in Raleigh, Durham and across North Carolina).

Here’s a look at local and regional job sites, listed in alphabetical order:

AMA Triangle

AMA Triangle, the fifth-largest chapter in American Marketing Association’s nationwide network, aims to be a go-to resource for all things marketing in the Triangle. AMA Triangle provides professional training, free career webinars and a job board offering free resume placement for marketing professionals.

As of Sunday afternoon, AMA Triangle’s job board shows 156 marketing jobs in Raleigh, 56 in Durham and 18 in Chapel Hill (using the 25-mile radius filter).

Two new local jobs were added to the site over the last seven days:

  • Advance Auto Parts is hiring a solutions marketing manager in Raleigh.
  • Marsh McLennan Agency is looking to add a marketing and communications intern at its Raleigh office.

American Underground

Durham-based startup hub American Underground regularly posts job openings on its job board. Job seekers can filter their search by job function, location, company, industry and job title. As of Sunday afternoon, the site shows 228 jobs at 44 companies.

Eight jobs were added to the site over the last week:

  • Caregiver training provider CareAcademy added two remote jobs for a small business account executive and a product manager.
  • Edtech startup Learn Platform seeks a vice president of finance and operations to work remotely or in Raleigh.
  • Durham-based data science firm NoviSci posted openings for a business development director and a data analytics product director.
  • Insurtech startup Noyo added is hiring a remote head of talent.
  • Payments software provider Spreedly is looking to hire a senior database reliability engineer to work remotely or in Durham.
  • Local telecommunication firm Relay is hiring a reverse logistics intern in Raleigh.

Bio Jobs Hub

Earlier this year, WRAL TechWire and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center launched a Bio Jobs Hub platform focused on biopharma manufacturing — one of North Carolina’s largest industries, employing over 26,000 people.

Typical biopharma jobs include process technicians, maintenance and/or instrumentation technicians, quality assurance and quality control associates, process development scientists and process engineers. This industry also offers competitive entry-level salaries, from $42,000 to $60,000.

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Scientists, skilled laborers and recent graduates can use the Bio Jobs Hub resource to find career and training opportunities in their area. Users can search by location, job category/activity and region.

Many biopharma companies are hiring in the Triangle, including large employers like Biogen in Research Triangle Park, bioMérieux in Durham, GSK in Zebulon, Merck & Co. in Durham, Novo Nordisk in Durham and Clayton, Pfizer in Sanford, and others.

Leadership Triangle

Leadership Triangle’s job board is packed with local jobs. The site displays 618 openings at 28 companies as of Sunday afternoon.

Here’s what’s been posted in the last week:

  • Bank of America is hiring a Spanish-speaking small business consultant in Durham and a financial solutions advisor trainee in Garner.
  • Bland Landscaping seeks a landscape design intern and a landscape designer in Apex.
  • Blue Cross NC added 10 openings in Durham, including senior business operations advisor, infrastructure design engineer associate, client delivery expert, finance M&A integration principal, business analyst associate, IT architecture team leader, customer success quality and compliance manager, senior data scientist, head of commercial pharmacy and resolution coordinator.
  • Capitol Broadcasting Company (WRAL TechWire’s parent company) is hiring a streaming executive producer, a senior multiplatform producer, a senior accountant, a radio traffic manager and a data strategist at its Raleigh office. And in Durham, it’s hiring a ticket sales trainee and food and beverage manager.
  • Medicago seeks a manufacturing specialist, a quality control raw materials specialist, a quality control compliance supervisor and a manufacturing specialist in Durham.
  • North Carolina Central University added 11 job openings in Durham, including career counseling director, business officer, administrative support associate, facility maintenance technician in mechanical trades, vehicle/equipment repair technician, student services specialist, university program specialist (pre-award research administrator), paralegal, student services specialist and facility maintenance technician in building trades (two openings).
  • Truist posted three local openings for a branch leader in Apex and a product manager and business intelligence analytics and reporting developer in Raleigh.

NCBiotech

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s extensive jobs board lists open jobs and internships from local life science companies and research organizations. Users can filter by job category, employment type (full-time, part-time and contractor), keywords, postal code and radius.

NCBiotech also touts jobs through its Bio Jobs Hub program.

Several jobs were added to NCBiotech’s board over the last week (since Dec. 6)*:

  • Fermentation research specialist at BioResource International in Durham
  • GMP manufacturing tech, associate GMP bioprocess development scientist, associate GMP analytical scientist, communications director, and GMP technical operations equipment and maintenance lead engineer at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute in Durham
  • Grifols added several new job openings at its Clayton facility, including mechanical maintenance technician, utilities shift operator, utilities instrumentation technician, business analyst, North America commercial supply chain director and IT applications functional analyst.
  • Merck & Co. added several jobs in Durham, including senior heating/ventilation/air conditioning technician, senior validation engineering specialist, associate environmental monitoring specialist, quality assurance associate director, senior manufacturing automation specialist, maintenance shift manager, lab automation associate specialist, associate engineering director/site technical operations lead, associate operations tech, quality operations laboratory senior specialist, quality assurance specialist, senior lab automation specialist, site sourcing specialist, senior technician, maintenance manager, and manager of maintenance, repair and overhaul.
  • Microbiome senior scientist at Metabolon in Raleigh
  • Senior clinical research associate at Nicox Ophthalmics in Durham
  • Ph.D. polymer chemist at NIRvana Sciences in RTP
  • Operations manager at Powered Research in RTP
  • Seqirus added four manufacturing associate job openings in Holly Springs.
  • Project manager at UNC Chapel Hill
  • Postdoctoral research associate at UNC’s Structural Genomics Consortium in Chapel Hill

*Note: This list does not include openings posted by recruiting/staffing firms.

NC TECH

The North Carolina Technology Association (NC TECH) has an interactive job board that you can use to find your next career opportunity. Users can search by keyword, location, category, type (full-time or part-time) and experience level.

No new jobs were added over the last week, so here’s a recap of the previous week’s openings:

  • Software firm CrossComm is hiring a lead backend developer and a director of operations in Durham.
  • Technology nonprofit MCNC seeks a cybersecurity engineer in RTP.

NCWorks

NCWorks, the statewide job search portal run by the North Carolina Department of Commerce, has nearly 100 career centers located across the state. Users can filter NCWorks’ database by keyword, location, occupation group or specific occupations, minimum acceptable salary, education level, job sources and date posted. NCWorks also has a mobile app on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

North Carolina military veterans, transitioning service members and spouses can find additional resources on NCWorks’ separate veterans portal.

More than 1,570 resumes were updated on the site in the past week, as of Sunday evening. NCWorks reports thousands of available positions across the Triangle area.

In Wake County, the top employers with the most job openings on NCWorks are*:

  • Wake County Public School System
  • North Carolina State University
  • WakeMed Health and Hospitals
  • UNC Health Care System
  • Lenovo

Here are the top companies/organizations by job openings in Durham County:

  • Duke University and the Duke University Health System
  • Durham Public Schools
  • Cree Wolfspeed
  • Fidelity Investments
  • IQVIA

And here are the top employers in Orange County:

  • UNC Chapel Hill
  • UNC Health Care System
  • Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools
  • Orange County Schools
  • Food Lion

*Note: This data was gathered through NCWorks’ Labor Market Information portal, which aggregates public job listings. NC Commerce confirmed with TechWire that this search pathway has a thorough process to remove duplicate job listings. Check employers’ websites directly for the latest information.

Raleigh Founded

Raleigh Founded, a startup incubator and coworking space, has its own job board. Job seekers can filter results by company, company size or industry. The site currently lists 170 positions at 30 companies, as of Sunday afternoon.

Nearly a dozen jobs were added to the site over the last seven days:

  • Product design and development firm MedPharm seeks a GMP manufacturing operator and a data quality control associate in Durham.
  • Raleigh software startup Pendo added openings for a commercial account executive, a sales enablement lead and a senior sales enablement lead.
  • Raleigh-based AI startup Pryon is hiring a product manager.
  • Local edtech startup LearnPlatform is hiring a vice president of finance and operations in Raleigh (or remote).
  • LifeWork Collaborative Foundation added openings for a remote contract bookkeeper and a community relations analyst and director of volunteer services in Raleigh.
  • Veeva Systems, a cloud software provider, is looking to hire a technical talent partner in Raleigh.

Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster

This isn’t a job board per se, but the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster’s list of job search sources is a helpful resource for job seekers in the clean energy sector. The list has links to career opportunities from the organization’s members and partners.

Triangle Region Job Board

Leadership Triangle, Raleigh Founded, and American Underground recently teamed up to create the Triangle Region Job Board, which synthesizes all of the openings posted on the organizations’ job boards. (Those openings are listed under their respective subheadings above.)

As of Sunday afternoon, the site shows 2,173 jobs at 86 companies. The latest Triangle-area openings (excluding remote jobs) come from the following employers:

  • Bland Landscaping (Apex)
  • Blue Cross NC (Durham)
  • Capitol Broadcasting Company (Raleigh and Durham)
  • Exit Intelligence (Raleigh)
  • LearnPlatform (Raleigh)
  • Medicago (Durham)
  • MedPharm (Durham)
  • North Carolina Central University (Durham)
  • Pendo (Raleigh)
  • Pryon (Raleigh)
  • Relay (Raleigh)
  • Spreedly (Durham)
  • Truist (multiple locations)
  • Veeva Systems (Raleigh)

Work in the Triangle

Work in the Triangle, a Wake County Economic Development program, shares new openings daily through its Twitter feed, @WorkTriangleNC. And the search continues to be intense for talent to fill thousands of open jobs both inside and outside the Triangle tech sector.

Every Tuesday, Work in the Triangle’s #TriangleTuesdays hashtag lists hot jobs.

Posts from last Tuesday (Dec. 7) included openings from:

Scroll through the #TriangleTuesdays hashtag on Twitter for more details on the openings.

New Jobs at Terra Dotta

Chapel Hill-based edtech company Terra Dotta told TechWire last month that it’s continuing to hire in the greater RTP area. After increasing its headcount from 65 to 75 so far in 2021, the firm anticipates another seven to 10 new hires before the end of the year.

Terra Dotta also anticipates an additional boost in hiring in 2022 as the company builds out its global engagement platform, which helps colleges and universities connect all aspects of international programming and campus services.

“With global travel quickly picking back up at colleges and universities, we are in growth mode and anticipate demand to further accelerate in 2022, with the potential for a 30% to 50% increase in our team,” says Terra Dotta CEO Anthony Rotoli.

Terra Dotta’s current job openings span product development, marketing, sales and administrative teams. Read more and apply here.

New Jobs at Mycovia Pharmaceuticals

RTP-based Mycovia Pharmaceuticals told TechWire this month that it’s hiring for several positions in project management, market access and marketing. The late-stage biopharma company is developing drugs to meet women’s health needs.

A Mycovia spokesperson says it plans to add around nine employees through the fourth quarter of 2021. As of September, its current headcount is 21.

Open positions include:

  • Commercial project manager
  • Senior director of pricing and contracting
  • Vice president of value, access and trade
  • Senior product manager

Read more and apply here.

Upcoming Job Fairs and Career Events

NC TECH Virtual Job Expo: Feb. 9, 8:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. (online)

This virtual job fair is designed for candidates seeking tech-related jobs or internships. Local employers can meet with job seekers in virtual booths. Registration is free for job seekers.

NC TECH Virtual Job Expo

Wake Tech Community College Business & IT Spring 2022 Career Fair: Feb. 9, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. (online)

In February 2022, Wake Tech will host an online job fair for business and information technology students looking for new career opportunities.

Wake Tech Community College Business & IT Spring 2022 Career Fair

More Job Resources for Local Students

If you’re a student looking for an internship or entry-level position at a local company or organization, your university has resources to help you get started. Quick links below:

Twitter Accounts to Follow

Here are some locally run Twitter accounts that regularly share job openings in the Triangle: