SEO job listings down 37% in Q1 – bad omen or blip?
We're living through a disruptive moment due to AI – and more turbulence is expected in the SEO job market.
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
Dig deeper. The latest jobs in search marketing
Related stories
New on Search Engine Land
About the author
Goodwin has been editing and writing about the latest developments and trends in search and digital marketing since 2007. He previously was Executive Editor of Search Engine Journal (from 2017 to 2022), managing editor of Momentology (from 2014-2016) and editor of Search Engine Watch (from 2007 to 2014). He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.