The strongest hiring demand in the United States is not in software. In its October labor market snapshot, released October 22, the Indeed Hiring Lab reports that physicians and surgeons hold the top spot in its Job Postings Index, therapy roles hold second, and mechanical, civil and electrical engineering take the other three places in the top five. The overall index reached 103 point 8 on October 16, close to four percent above its February 2020 baseline and two point eight percent higher than a year ago, and the breadth underneath it widened fast: 68 percent of occupational sectors now post more jobs than a year ago, up from 49 percent at the beginning of September. For CIOs, CISOs and VP IT Operations leaders, the lesson is direct. The contest for engineers, field talent and data center staff is now a contest across industries, against hospitals, manufacturers, utilities and builders hiring the same people.
Which sectors sit at the top of the postings table?
The sector split in the Indeed Hiring Lab snapshot is the headline. Engineering postings are ramping up, and the chart in the snapshot puts the engineering index at about 145 against its February 2020 baseline, the highest of the sectors it tracks, while software development sits at about 78, the lowest. New postings, meaning listings seven days old or fewer, sit at 99 point 2 and have drifted sideways, so employers are adding postings in more sectors without yet opening many brand new ones. Wage data points the same way. Posted wages grew two point four percent year over year in September, but the gains concentrate where demand is strongest: advertised wages for electrical engineering roles rose five point six percent on the year, and IT systems and solutions roles rose four point seven percent. Scarcity is being priced first in exactly the engineering roles that data centers, plants and networks run on.
What do payrolls say sector by sector?
Postings are intent. Payrolls are completed hires, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics September report, released October 2, shows how unevenly that intent converts. Total nonfarm payrolls rose 29,000 in September, below the average monthly gain of 45,000 over the prior 12 months, and the Bureau states plainly that employment in all major industries changed little. Under that flat headline, the sectors split. Health care added 17,000 jobs, but slower than its 12 month average of 33,000: ambulatory care added 13,000 and hospitals added 12,000, while nursing and residential care facilities lost 9,000. Construction added 11,000, in line with its recent average, with nonresidential specialty trade contractors, the firms that supply electricians and skilled trades to commercial and industrial sites, trending up by 12,000. Manufacturing added 9,000 and is now up 72,000 since a recent low in December 2025, led by plastics and rubber products and by machinery, each up 5,000. Financial activities moved the other way, down 7,000 in the month and down 129,000 since a peak in May 2025, with insurance carriers accounting for 90,000 of that decline. Revisions cut July and August by a combined 60,000, a reminder to plan on the revised series, not the first headline.
Why do openings convert so unevenly across industries?
Because an opening is not a hire, and the gap between the two is an industry trait. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for August, released September 29, counts 7 point 1 million job openings at a rate of four point three percent, with openings little changed in all industries, against 5 point 2 million hires at a rate of three point three percent. Quits held at 3 point 1 million and layoffs at 1 point 6 million, so workers are staying put and employers are holding on. The industry rates show where postings stall. Health care and social assistance post the highest openings rate of any major industry, five point four percent, yet convert at a hires rate of only two point nine percent. Finance and insurance post openings at five point zero percent and hire at one point seven percent. Information posts at four point three percent and hires at one point six percent. Manufacturing posts at four point zero percent and hires at two point six percent. Licensed, credentialed and heavily screened work converts slowly everywhere it appears, and that describes clinical roles, insurance roles and a large share of cyber, network and data center roles alike.
What is pulling engineering demand upward?
Capital spending is. The Indeed Hiring Lab snapshot reports that data center related job postings grew another 20 percent in just three months through the end of September and now stand 147 percent above the levels of June 2024, after a pause earlier in the year that turned out not to be a plateau. Every one of those projects pulls on the same short list: electrical and mechanical engineers, commissioning staff, QA and test technicians, network teams and field service engineers. The forward indicators say the pull is structural. The Conference Board reported on October 22 that its Leading Economic Index was flat in September at 99 point 6, but grew zero point six percent over the six months from March to September, reversing a decline of one point one percent over the prior six months. Five of the ten components made positive contributions, led by the interest rate spread and average weekly hours in manufacturing. Justyna Zabinska-La Monica of The Conference Board summarized the rotation directly: the economy is still growing, and it is becoming less dependent on consumer spending and more dependent on business investment. Business investment means plants, power and data centers, and each of those is built and run by the engineering and operations roles at the top of the postings table.
Where is demand tightest on the map?
Not where the technology headlines point. The Indeed Hiring Lab snapshot ranks Seattle, San Francisco and Santa Rosa among the slackest markets in the country, with index readings of 67, 72 and 73 after the technology pullback, while the tightest markets sit in New England and the Upper Midwest, led by the Lebanon and Claremont area on the New Hampshire and Vermont border and by Burlington, Vermont, where retirements and a thin local supply push demand up. The same role can be a routine fill in one metro and a quarter long search in another.
What should talent leaders do with a cross industry market?
Four moves follow from the data. First, map the real competition: for engineering, data center and field roles, the rival offer is as likely to come from a hospital system building a facility, a manufacturer expanding a plant or a utility upgrading a grid as from another technology employer, so benchmark against all of them. Second, start scarce searches earlier and set wage bands from current posted data, not last year's ranges, because advertised pay for electrical engineering is already rising at more than twice the overall rate. Third, manage conversion, not just volume: in licensed and screened industries, openings pile up while hires crawl, so the work that pays is checking credentials, certifications and site requirements early, before interview time is spent. Fourth, plan market by market, because the tightest and slackest labor markets now sit in different regions than they did in the technology led cycle.
That is the market UPPER supports for a customer's own recruiters: a talent sourcing platform the customer's team operates, sourcing across multiple channels for hardware, embedded, firmware, test, QA, cyber, network, site reliability, field service, ERP and data center roles at operating companies in the United States and Canada. When doctors, therapists and engineers lead the postings table at the same time, no single job board and no single industry network reaches the whole field.