HÜNT · Monthly hiring report
Who's hiring: March 2026 hiring report
We ranked 475 US employers by hiring pace in March 2026, from real job changes in résumé histories. Waters sped up the most, +43 pts in its hiring percentile in a month, while Moderna slowed the most, -10 pts. Over 12 months, Diamond Offshore gained the most: +61 pts.
Key takeaways
- Waters accelerated +43 pts to the 97th percentile, the sharpest monthly move among the listed employers.
- Hiring pace slowed at 179 employers versus 160 that sped up in March 2026.
- Financials was the only sector with a median 12-month rise, at +3 pts.
- Software engineering remained the largest listed role family at 22.1% of hires, despite a -0.4 pts change.
Sped up hiring in March 2026
Waters led the listed monthly accelerations, rising +43 pts to the 97th percentile. The 10 employers spanned 7 sectors, with Health Care, Industrials, and Information Technology each contributing 2 of 10; ITT, Micron Technology, and Palo Alto Networks also rose, while the broader group included 160 employers that sped up.
Change in hiring percentile from Feb 2026 to Mar 2026.
| # | Employer | Sector | Change, 1 mo | Hiring percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waters | Health Care | +43 pts | 97th |
| 2 | ITT | Industrials | +12 pts | 67th |
| 3 | Micron Technology | Information Technology | +10 pts | 78th |
| 4 | Equifax | Industrials | +7 pts | 39th |
| 5 | Palo Alto Networks | Information Technology | +6 pts | 92nd |
| 6 | Aflac | Financials | +6 pts | 46th |
| 7 | McCormick | Consumer Staples | +6 pts | 72nd |
| 8 | Ball | Materials | +6 pts | 56th |
| 9 | Nielsen | — | +5 pts | 41st |
| 10 | Illumina | Health Care | +5 pts | 32nd |
Slowed hiring in March 2026
Moderna recorded the largest listed monthly slowdown, falling -10 pts to the 51st percentile. The 10 employers covered 5 sectors, with Health Care and Industrials each accounting for 3 of 10 and Real Estate for 2 of 10; 179 employers slowed overall, more than the 160 that sped up.
| # | Employer | Sector | Change, 1 mo | Hiring percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moderna | Health Care | -10 pts | 51st |
| 2 | CoStar | Real Estate | -9 pts | 38th |
| 3 | MGM Resorts | Consumer Discretionary | -9 pts | 68th |
| 4 | General Dynamics | Industrials | -9 pts | 25th |
| 5 | Becton Dickinson | Health Care | -8 pts | 31st |
| 6 | West Pharmaceutical Services | Health Care | -8 pts | 60th |
| 7 | Republic Services | Industrials | -8 pts | 55th |
| 8 | Rollins | Industrials | -8 pts | 36th |
| 9 | Weyerhaeuser | Real Estate | -8 pts | 76th |
| 10 | Tyler Technologies | Information Technology | -7 pts | 65th |
Biggest gains over 12 months
Diamond Offshore led the listed 12-month gains at +61 pts and the 94th percentile, followed by Coinbase at +52 pts and Waters at +49 pts. The 10 employers represented 8 sectors, with Financials and Consumer Discretionary each contributing 2 of 10; Financials was the only sector with a median rise, at +3 pts.
Change in hiring percentile from Mar 2025 to Mar 2026.
| # | Employer | Sector | Change, 12 mo | Hiring percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diamond Offshore | — | +61 pts | 94th |
| 2 | Coinbase | Financials | +52 pts | 89th |
| 3 | Waters | Health Care | +49 pts | 97th |
| 4 | Robinhood Markets | Financials | +39 pts | 47th |
| 5 | Honeywell Aerospace | Industrials | +38 pts | 94th |
| 6 | ConocoPhillips | Energy | +36 pts | 72nd |
| 7 | Simon Property | Real Estate | +32 pts | 90th |
| 8 | eBay | Consumer Discretionary | +31 pts | 70th |
| 9 | Exelon | Utilities | +29 pts | 92nd |
| 10 | Leggett & Platt | Consumer Discretionary | +29 pts | 70th |
Biggest drops over 12 months
Air Products had the largest listed 12-month decline, at -64 pts and the 25th percentile, followed by Discover Financial at -59 pts and Celanese at -55 pts. The 10 employers covered 7 sectors, with Materials, unclassified, and Industrials each contributing 2 of 10; 5 sectors had median 12-month declines.
| # | Employer | Sector | Change, 12 mo | Hiring percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Air Products | Materials | -64 pts | 25th |
| 2 | Discover Financial | — | -59 pts | 30th |
| 3 | Celanese | Materials | -55 pts | 21st |
| 4 | CSX | Industrials | -48 pts | 34th |
| 5 | Southwest Airlines | Industrials | -44 pts | 45th |
| 6 | AES | Utilities | -43 pts | 17th |
| 7 | Moderna | Health Care | -42 pts | 51st |
| 8 | CoStar | Real Estate | -42 pts | 38th |
| 9 | Fannie Mae | — | -42 pts | 23rd |
| 10 | NXP Semiconductors | Information Technology | -40 pts | 33rd |
By sector
Real Estate had the highest sector median hiring percentile at 76th, while Communication Services had the lowest at 40th. Financials was the only sector with a median 12-month rise, at +3 pts; 5 sectors had median declines, including Materials at -8 pts, while Industrials, Information Technology, Health Care, Utilities, and Communication Services were at 0 pts.
| Sector | Employers | Median percentile | Median change, 12 mo | Fastest hirer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Estate | 14 | 76th | -2 pts | Prologis (90th) |
| Energy | 17 | 61st | -3 pts | Murphy Oil (95th) |
| Financials | 60 | 57th | +3 pts | Arthur J. Gallagher (97th) |
| Materials | 17 | 55th | -8 pts | Smurfit Westrock (100th) |
| Utilities | 12 | 55th | unchanged | Exelon (92nd) |
| Industrials | 70 | 52nd | unchanged | GE Vernova (99th) |
| Information Technology | 66 | 51st | unchanged | NVIDIA (99th) |
| Consumer Staples | 29 | 48th | -4 pts | Kenvue (99th) |
| Health Care | 55 | 47th | unchanged | Cencora (98th) |
| Consumer Discretionary | 59 | 41st | -4 pts | H&R Block (88th) |
| Communication Services | 22 | 40th | unchanged | Fox (87th) |
Sectors with at least 5 employers in the report.
By role
Software engineering was the largest listed role family at 22.1% of hires, followed by Operations & manufacturing at 9.7% and Sales at 7.2%. Share rose for 4 role families, including Data & machine learning at +0.7 pts and Sales at +0.5 pts, while share fell for 6, including Software engineering and Operations & manufacturing at -0.4 pts each.
| Role family | Share of US hires | Change, 12 mo |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineering | 22.1% | -0.4 pts |
| Operations & Manufacturing | 9.7% | -0.4 pts |
| Sales | 7.2% | +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 March 2026.
Questions and answers
Which US companies sped up hiring the most in March 2026?
By change in hiring percentile over one month: Waters (+43 pts, now in the 97th percentile), ITT (+12 pts, now in the 67th percentile) and Micron Technology (+10 pts, now in the 78th percentile).
Which US companies slowed hiring the most in March 2026?
By change in hiring percentile over one month: Moderna (-10 pts, now in the 51st percentile), CoStar (-9 pts, now in the 38th percentile) and MGM Resorts (-9 pts, now in the 68th percentile).
Which companies gained the most hiring momentum over the 12 months to March 2026?
Diamond Offshore (+61 pts, now in the 94th percentile), Coinbase (+52 pts, now in the 89th percentile) and Waters (+49 pts, now in the 97th percentile), by change in hiring percentile since March 2025.
Which sector is hiring fastest in the US in March 2026?
Real Estate: its median employer is in the 76th hiring percentile, and the fastest hirer in the sector is Prologis. The slowest sector is Communication Services, with a median in the 40th percentile.
Which jobs account for the most US hires in March 2026?
The largest role families by share of hires at US panel employers are software engineering (22.1%), operations & manufacturing (9.7%), sales (7.2%). 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 March 2026 · Methodology