Large-scale online job search behaviors reveal labor market shifts amid COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on labor markets, significantly altering the structure of labor supply and demand in various regions. We use large-scale online job search queries and job postings in China as indicators to assess and understand the evolving dynamics in regional labor markets. Our analysis reflects the changing landscape of regional agglomeration and potential misalignment of the supply and demand of jobs in labor markets. Specifically, we observe that the intention of labor flow recovered quickly from pandemic conditions, with a trend of the central role shifting from large to small cities and from northern to southern regions, respectively. Following the pandemic, the demand for blue-collar workers was substantially reduced compared with demand for white-collar workers. In particular, our analysis reveals a decreased central role of the metropolises and a decreased regional supply–demand mismatch of labor markets. This implies that, under the unprecedented levels of uncertainty and stress amid the pandemic, workers show relatively rational career choices that align with regional demand. Overall, our approach provides timely information for confronting the dynamic change in labor markets during extreme events. In addition, our findings can assist policymakers in providing appropriate policies to support the sustainable development of regional economies.