Job postings for HR, as well as staffing and recruitment roles increase
Job postings for human resources (HR) professionals went up year on year in 10 major markets to defy a global slowdown in hiring demand, according to the latest insights from Bain & Company.
Its latest Global Market Trends report showed that HR-related job postings went up 24% in the period between September 2025 and September 2026.
Staffing and recruiting job postings also went up four per cent in the same period, the report found.
These two sectors were the only areas where job postings went up year on year, while the rest posted a decline in job ads.
"Hiring demand is growing in a handful of markets and industries, and in AI-related roles, but falling almost everywhere else," the report read.
"For companies that can keep hiring, the slowdown is an opportunity, with less competition for talent in most functions than a year ago."
Biggest declines in job ads
The biggest declines in job ads were recorded in the food and beverage (-28%) and restaurant (-18%) sectors.
"The steepest declines in postings were in industries where AI has little bearing on hiring today," the report read. "In high-turnover businesses like these, fewer postings may reflect lower attrition in addition to weaker demand."
Despite the widespread drop in job ads, the report noted that AI-related postings kept climbing, totalling roughly 421,000 in the third quarter.
This was up 61% from a year earlier, and nine per cent from the second quarter.
"From April through September, growth ranged between 48% and 78%, ending at 68% in September," the report noted.
Job ads by market
Meanwhile, the biggest change in job ad volume was observed in China, which logged a 33% year-on-year decrease in job postings, according to the findings.
Canada saw a 19% drop, while the United States saw a 13% decline.
Japan was one of the three markets that logged job postings growth, with 13%, followed by India, with 11%. Canada also saw an annual increase of nine per cent.
