HÜNT · Monthly hiring report
Who's hiring: February 2026 hiring report
We ranked 475 US employers by hiring pace in February 2026, from real job changes in résumé histories. Coinbase sped up the most, +16 pts in its hiring percentile in a month, while CSX slowed the most, -18 pts. Over 12 months, Diamond Offshore gained the most: +63 pts.
Key takeaways
- Coinbase sped up +16 pts to the 87th percentile, while CSX slowed -18 pts to the 40th percentile.
- 196 employers sped up and 176 slowed in February 2026 among 475 ranked employers.
- Utilities and Financials were the 2 sectors with median hiring rises over 12 months.
- Data & machine learning gained +0.7 pts in hiring share, while Software engineering fell -0.4 pts.
- Diamond Offshore gained +63 pts over 12 months, while Air Products dropped -63 pts.
Sped up hiring in February 2026
Coinbase led the monthly acceleration at +16 pts, reaching the 87th percentile, followed by Construction Partners at +12 pts. The 10 employers represented 7 sectors; Industrials, Consumer Staples, and Consumer Discretionary each supplied 2 of 10, while 4 other sectors supplied 1 of 10.
Change in hiring percentile from Jan 2026 to Feb 2026.
| # | Employer | Sector | Change, 1 mo | Hiring percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coinbase | Financials | +16 pts | 87th |
| 2 | Construction Partners | Industrials | +12 pts | 55th |
| 3 | Meta | Communication Services | +10 pts | 30th |
| 4 | Estée Lauder Companies | Consumer Staples | +10 pts | 70th |
| 5 | Simon Property | Real Estate | +10 pts | 88th |
| 6 | Bath & Body Works | Consumer Discretionary | +9 pts | 45th |
| 7 | Honeywell Aerospace | Industrials | +9 pts | 90th |
| 8 | Leggett & Platt | Consumer Discretionary | +9 pts | 76th |
| 9 | Nielsen | — | +8 pts | 36th |
| 10 | Newell Brands | Consumer Staples | +8 pts | 35th |
Slowed hiring in February 2026
CSX recorded the sharpest monthly slowdown at -18 pts, with Mondelez International next at -13 pts. The 10 employers covered 7 sectors; Industrials, Communication Services, and Health Care each accounted for 2 of 10, while 4 other sectors accounted for 1 of 10.
| # | Employer | Sector | Change, 1 mo | Hiring percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CSX | Industrials | -18 pts | 40th |
| 2 | Mondelez International | Consumer Staples | -13 pts | 11th |
| 3 | Discover Financial | — | -12 pts | 34th |
| 4 | United Rentals | Industrials | -10 pts | 58th |
| 5 | Live Nation Entertainment | Communication Services | -9 pts | 70th |
| 6 | Genuine Parts | Consumer Discretionary | -9 pts | 55th |
| 7 | Molina Healthcare | Health Care | -9 pts | 78th |
| 8 | Intuitive Surgical | Health Care | -9 pts | 58th |
| 9 | Upwork | Communication Services | -8 pts | 54th |
| 10 | Goldman Sachs | Financials | -8 pts | 26th |
Biggest gains over 12 months
Diamond Offshore led 12-month gains at +63 pts and stood at the 93rd percentile, followed by Exelon at +56 pts. The 10 employers spanned 7 sectors, with Energy, Financials, and Consumer Discretionary each contributing 2 of 10; the other 4 sectors contributed 1 of 10.
Change in hiring percentile from Feb 2025 to Feb 2026.
| # | Employer | Sector | Change, 12 mo | Hiring percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diamond Offshore | — | +63 pts | 93rd |
| 2 | Exelon | Utilities | +56 pts | 92nd |
| 3 | ConocoPhillips | Energy | +48 pts | 72nd |
| 4 | Coinbase | Financials | +42 pts | 87th |
| 5 | Robinhood Markets | Financials | +39 pts | 48th |
| 6 | Honeywell Aerospace | Industrials | +35 pts | 90th |
| 7 | Fair Isaac | Information Technology | +33 pts | 81st |
| 8 | Leggett & Platt | Consumer Discretionary | +32 pts | 76th |
| 9 | eBay | Consumer Discretionary | +30 pts | 67th |
| 10 | Phillips 66 | Energy | +30 pts | 72nd |
Biggest drops over 12 months
Air Products posted the largest 12-month drop at -63 pts, followed by Celanese at -59 pts. The 10 employers covered 6 sectors, with Materials, unclassified, Industrials, and Communication Services each represented by 2 of 10, while Utilities and Information Technology each represented 1 of 10.
| # | Employer | Sector | Change, 12 mo | Hiring percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Air Products | Materials | -63 pts | 28th |
| 2 | Celanese | Materials | -59 pts | 21st |
| 3 | Discover Financial | — | -53 pts | 34th |
| 4 | AES | Utilities | -48 pts | 17th |
| 5 | Southwest Airlines | Industrials | -46 pts | 46th |
| 6 | Fannie Mae | — | -42 pts | 23rd |
| 7 | CSX | Industrials | -41 pts | 40th |
| 8 | NXP Semiconductors | Information Technology | -40 pts | 35th |
| 9 | Warner Bros. Discovery | Communication Services | -37 pts | 48th |
| 10 | Paramount Skydance | Communication Services | -35 pts | 10th |
By sector
Real Estate had the highest sector median hiring percentile at 80th, while Consumer Discretionary had the lowest at 39th. Utilities and Financials were the 2 sectors with median 12-month rises; the other 7 sectors listed had median declines, including Consumer Discretionary at -5 pts and Materials at -4 pts.
| Sector | Employers | Median percentile | Median change, 12 mo | Fastest hirer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Estate | 14 | 80th | -2 pts | Prologis (91st) |
| Utilities | 12 | 60th | +5 pts | Exelon (92nd) |
| Financials | 60 | 59th | +2 pts | Arthur J. Gallagher (98th) |
| Energy | 17 | 58th | -3 pts | Murphy Oil (94th) |
| Materials | 17 | 54th | -4 pts | Smurfit Westrock (100th) |
| Industrials | 70 | 52nd | unchanged | GE Vernova (99th) |
| Consumer Staples | 29 | 50th | -2 pts | Kenvue (99th) |
| Information Technology | 66 | 49th | -1 pt | NVIDIA (99th) |
| Health Care | 55 | 47th | unchanged | Cencora (98th) |
| Communication Services | 22 | 40th | -1 pt | Trade Desk (89th) |
| Consumer Discretionary | 59 | 39th | -5 pts | H&R Block (89th) |
Sectors with at least 5 employers in the report.
By role
Software engineering remained the largest listed role family at 22.1% of hires, while Operations & manufacturing accounted for 9.8%. Data & machine learning had the largest listed share rise at +0.7 pts, while Sales rose +0.5 pts; 4 role families rose, compared with 6 that fell.
| Role family | Share of US hires | Change, 12 mo |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineering | 22.1% | -0.4 pts |
| Operations & Manufacturing | 9.8% | -0.4 pts |
| Sales | 7.1% | +0.5 pts |
| Finance | 4.4% | unchanged |
| Executive Leadership | 4.2% | +0.2 pts |
| Consulting | 3.9% | -0.2 pts |
| Data & Machine Learning | 3.7% | +0.7 pts |
| HR & Recruiting | 3.2% | -0.2 pts |
| Marketing | 3.1% | +0.1 pts |
| Product Management | 2.0% | unchanged |
| Customer Support | 1.7% | -0.1 pts |
| Design | 1.6% | -0.1 pts |
| Research | 1.2% | unchanged |
| Legal & Compliance | 1.0% | unchanged |
| Medical | 0.5% | unchanged |
Share of all hires observed at US panel employers, 36-month window ending February 2026.
Questions and answers
Which US companies sped up hiring the most in February 2026?
By change in hiring percentile over one month: Coinbase (+16 pts, now in the 87th percentile), Construction Partners (+12 pts, now in the 55th percentile) and Meta (+10 pts, now in the 30th percentile).
Which US companies slowed hiring the most in February 2026?
By change in hiring percentile over one month: CSX (-18 pts, now in the 40th percentile), Mondelez International (-13 pts, now in the 11th percentile) and Discover Financial (-12 pts, now in the 34th percentile).
Which companies gained the most hiring momentum over the 12 months to February 2026?
Diamond Offshore (+63 pts, now in the 93rd percentile), Exelon (+56 pts, now in the 92nd percentile) and ConocoPhillips (+48 pts, now in the 72nd percentile), by change in hiring percentile since February 2025.
Which sector is hiring fastest in the US in February 2026?
Real Estate: its median employer is in the 80th hiring percentile, and the fastest hirer in the sector is Prologis. The slowest sector is Consumer Discretionary, with a median in the 39th percentile.
Which jobs account for the most US hires in February 2026?
The largest role families by share of hires at US panel employers are software engineering (22.1%), operations & manufacturing (9.8%), sales (7.1%). The biggest 12-month gain in share is in data & machine learning, +0.7 pts.
How is the hiring percentile calculated?
From job changes in public résumé histories over a rolling 36-month window, not from job postings. Each employer is ranked by hiring pace among all employers in the panel: 0 is the slowest, 100 the fastest. Only employers with enough observed job changes are ranked, and the data is updated monthly.
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Data: HÜNT Workforce Panel · résumé history · updated monthly · data through February 2026 · Methodology