Is the US economy booming amid a post-pandemic recovery? Or is it lurching toward a 2024 recession? Are we already in an economic downturn? Well, it depends on who you ask (and what news you consume.)
Switch On Business decided to cut through all the noise with a new study looking at one of the best markers of economic recovery – the number of new hires. By analyzing data on the number of jobs advertised between September 2022 and September 2023, it ranked major U.S. companies based on the number and percent of total new employees.
Here’s a breakdown of the results.
US Companies Hiring the Most New Employees
In terms of raw numbers, Apple tops the chart for US companies increasing their workforce. The tech giant onboarded 95,102 new hires between September 2022 and September 2023. That’s one busy HR department.
The USA’s ongoing love of fast food put McDonald’s in second place. Despite a notoriously high staff turnover rate, the restaurant chain still increased its workforce by 93,817. And the firm’s growth plans have no intention of slowing down. McDonald’s plans to open an additional 50,000 stores worldwide by 2027, with thousands more earmarked across US states and cities.
Amazon is also putting a huge emphasis on people power. Between 2022 and 2023, Amazon employed over 85,000 new staff, putting it in third place in the chart. This recent recruitment drive was driven by Amazon’s commitment to delivering exceptional, personalized services built by data science and analytics. Over the last few years, the number of data scientists and analysts working at Amazon has increased by more than 500%. And Amazon wants even more of these data wizards. A recent study found that Amazon is posting hundreds of data scientist roles every single month.
Companies Hiring the Largest Percentage of New Employees
The Switch On Business report also looked at the percentage of new employees being hired at companies across the USA.
Again, Apple grabbed one of the top spots. It bulked up its workforce by 51%, putting it in second place in terms of percentage growth.
WorldQuant took pole position, growing its staff numbers by over 60% in a 12-month period. WorldQuant is a private asset management firm specializing in quantitative trading and investment strategies. It hires a lot of people, and all of them are super smart. WorldQuant has become well-known for hiring the best of the best PhD graduates, researchers, and tech developers.
Other well-known companies on the list include biotech research firm Moderna, software development company Roblox, and Tesla, which now employs over 120,000 people across all its sites.
US Company Employee Growth, State by State
Next up, the study highlighted which company in each US state is hiring the most new staff.
Home Depot solidified its position as the biggest employer in the state of Georgia, adding an extra 19,000 job openings.
Hawaii’s biggest industry is trade and tourism, so it’s no surprise that its biggest hirer of 2022/23 was Hawaiian Airlines.
People’s love of their pets is driving job growth in Arizona. The state’s biggest hirer was Petsmart, which advertised an extra 1,722 jobs.
JP Morgan proved that New York state is still a major hub for global finance. The investment giant created an extra 28,100 jobs. Many of these new roles are in digital transformation, i.e., how new technology like blockchain and AI can revolutionize how we think about finance and asset management.
The most intriguing US company hiring lots of new starters is in New Mexico. The Los Alamos National Laboratory, which advertised 15,123 new job roles last year, describes itself as a research service firm. However, that research involves top-secret work on the US nuclear weapons program, as well as projects looking to advance nuclear fission, supercomputing, and space exploration. Now there’s a reason to get up for work on a Monday morning.
Every Company with the Highest Percentage of New Hires in Every US State
People are crazy for their pets in Maine. Over 60% of the state’s residents have at least one furry friend, making Maine one of the most pet-friendly states in the USA. This has to explain why veterinarian service provider Covetrus is The Pine Tree State’s biggest growing business in terms of the percentage of new staff.
The State of South Dakota increased its government administration department by over 5% in 2022/23, making it the state’s fastest-growing company. It’s an unexpected result given South Dakota’s long association with libertarian philosophy based on smaller government and increased individual freedoms.
Jeff Bezos is determined to catch up with his super-rich rivals in the billionaire space race. As such, his defense and space management firm, Blue Origin, is the biggest employer of 2022/23 in Washington state. It increased workforce numbers by around 20%. Will they help the firm reach its goal of returning to and setting up a permanent base on the Moon? Only time will tell.
