SEO job listings down 37% in Q1 – bad omen or blip?

SEO job listings have declined by 37% year-on-year, with mid-level roles being most impacted, according to a new analysis.

Also, there was a “resurgence” in remote SEO roles during Q1. But only 18% of SEO job listings provided a salary (or salary range), according to the SEOJobs.com report.

Why we care. Just two years ago, we were in a period called the Great Resignation (a.k.a., the Great Reshuffle), when job listings were abundant and hiring was a huge challenge for companies. Things have flipped in 2024 and many newly unemployed and talented people in our industry are finding it difficult to get hired.

By the numbers. Breaking down open roles by seniority, year-on-year:

• Senior-level listings increased 3%.
• Intern/entry-level listings increased 1%.
• Mid-level listings decreased 6%.

What they’re saying. A career in SEO may not feel as stable today as in the past several years, but that doesn’t mean SEO is dead – just that SEO is evolving, according to report author Nick LeRoy:

• “Companies want to ‘do more with less,’ which means hiring cheap junior resources and paying for proven experience/results via senior SEOs. … I suspect the SEO industry will become much more turbulent before it improves. However, there will always be a job for an SEO who knows how to build a strategy, execute it, and effectively measure results.”

About the data. It is based on a year-on-year comparison of active job listings – 80,000 in total – posted by about 4,700 companies.

The report. State of the SEO Job Market: Q1 2024

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