Global Job Market 2026: Where the Open Jobs Are

You send out application after application and the replies do not come. It is easy to decide the job market is dead, or that the good jobs are all somewhere else. The numbers tell a more useful story: a lot of hiring is happening right now, and it is very uneven across countries and fields.

As of November 2, 2026, JobRise was tracking 2,500,416 open jobs across 182 countries, posted by 411,309 employers. In the last 7 days, JobRise found 387,414 of those jobs for the first time. In the last 30 days, it found 1,290,293.

This is not the whole job market. It is the jobs JobRise tracks from employer career pages and public job boards. That is still a big enough sample to show where the work is, so everything below comes from that data.

How to read these numbers#

Three numbers matter for every country. "Open jobs" is the size of the pool, meaning how many listings JobRise is tracking right now. "New in last 7 days" and "new in last 30 days" show how fast the pool is changing, because they count jobs JobRise found for the first time in that window.

A big pool with few new jobs means a lot of listings that have been up for a while. A smaller pool with lots of new jobs means a market that is turning over quickly. Both can be good for you, but they call for different habits. A slow pool rewards careful applications, and a fast one rewards checking every day.

Which countries have the most open jobs#

Germany has the largest pool by a wide margin, with 865,932 open jobs. The United States is second at 379,511, then the Netherlands at 229,199 and France at 207,493. Here are the top 12 with the fresh counts next to them:

Two of the biggest sources in the data are Arbeitsagentur (860,983 jobs) and EURES (637,892 jobs). Country totals depend on which job boards JobRise tracks, and that list changes. Read the country numbers as a snapshot of what we can see today, not a fixed measure of each economy.

Australia is further down the list at 7,406 open jobs, with 1,350 new in the last 7 days and 4,511 in the last 30 days.

Austria is a useful contrast. It has 58,312 open jobs, about the same size as Belgium's 58,876, but only 3,300 were new in the last 7 days. Belgium had 14,800 new in the same window. Two markets of similar size can move at very different speeds, so the pool size alone does not tell you where to go.

The United Kingdom sits in the middle with 72,560 open jobs and 19,603 new in the last 7 days. Canada has 49,978 open jobs and 9,919 new in the last 7 days, with 40,985 found in the last 30 days.

Where the jobs are posted#

Jobs in the data come from many sources. These are the ten with the most listings:

JobRise tracks 411,309 employers in total. A source count is not a country count, and the same employer can post through more than one system. The practical point is simple: many of these listings come from company career systems, not from one central job board. Searching by country and by source, not just by job title, will show you more of the market.

Where fresh jobs are showing up#

Fresh counts tell you how fast a market is moving. JobRise's "new" count is the day JobRise first found a job, which is close to when it was posted but not the same thing. Still, it is the best signal for what is moving this week.

Compare the Netherlands with Germany. The Netherlands shows 89,582 new jobs in the last 7 days against 229,199 open. Germany shows 74,027 against 865,932. The Netherlands is a smaller pool that is turning over faster.

A few other markets stand out the same way:

1. Romania: 4,672 new in the last 7 days, out of 6,841 open.
2. Belgium: 14,800 new in the last 7 days, out of 58,876 open.
3. Norway: 2,670 new in the last 7 days, out of 7,133 open.

One chart can mislead you. The daily new-jobs count jumps to 118,718 on October 15, up from 47,479 the day before. That spike mostly reflects new job sources being added to JobRise, not a busy hiring day. November 2 is still in progress (the data is as of 1:05 PM UTC), so its count of 42,187 will keep rising.

Which fields have the most open jobs#

Here are the largest classified categories, with open job counts:

1. Skilled trades: 269,990
2. Healthcare: 244,775
3. Internships: 164,141 (this is a job type, not a field)
4. Logistics: 151,907
5. Operations: 135,288
6. Sales: 126,796
7. Manufacturing: 100,126
8. Hospitality: 98,059
9. Software: 95,437
10. Finance: 89,720
11. Engineering: 81,699
12. Data & AI: 38,846

Software is ninth. That is a big pool, but it is not the biggest one, and most of the largest pools are in trades, healthcare and operations. If you work in tech, that is worth knowing. Your search will be bigger if you look at roles where your skills transfer, such as operations, finance, or analyst work, not only tech titles.

There is a catch. 504,739 jobs sit in the "Other" group because JobRise could not classify them. Each field count above covers only the classified part of the market, so a field's real total may be higher.

How remote work varies by country#

The remote share column shows what part of each country's listings are remote. It matters if you want to work from home or from another country.

The countries with the highest remote shares are often the smallest pools. South Africa shows 67% remote with 2,392 open jobs, Pakistan 80% with 896, and Sri Lanka 86% with 256. A high percentage on a small pool means a few good remote roles, not a deep market. Apply widely if you go this route.

What this means for where you should focus#

Here is how I would use this data, depending on where you are. None of these is a promise of a job. They are places to point your search, and you still need to check each posting for the details the data does not show.

1. If you can relocate, start with the big, fast-moving pools. Germany, the United States, the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom have the most open jobs and the most fresh ones. The data does not show language or work permit requirements, so read each posting before you plan around it.

   Pick two or three countries, not every country on the list. Spreading thin across many markets means you apply without learning what each one asks for. A tight list lets you tune one resume per country.

2. If you are in India, the pool is smaller but still active. India has 31,970 open jobs, with 4,903 new in the last 7 days and 15,303 in the last 30 days. Check the India job page every few days, because a job found this week has had fewer days of applicants than one from last month.

3. If you want remote work, look at Canada and Australia first. Canada has 49,978 open jobs and a 33% remote share. Australia has a 29% remote share, though its pool is much smaller at 7,406.

4. If you are in tech, widen your field. Software has 95,437 open jobs and Data & AI has 38,846. Those are real pools, but the largest classified fields are trades, healthcare and logistics, so a skill-based search will show you more roles.

5. Check the newest postings first. The 7-day count across all countries is 387,414. Scan new postings each week instead of the whole list, since the fresh ones are where the hiring is happening now.

Put together, a simple routine looks like this:

1. Pick your two or three target countries and your one or two fields.
2. Each week, look only at jobs found in the last 7 days in those places.
3. For each job you like, run the resume check and tailor two lines of your resume to the posting.
4. Track what you sent and when, so you can follow up in a week if you hear nothing.

What to do this week#

Start with the resume. Many large career systems, including Workday (269,464 jobs in our data) and Greenhouse (110,920), often read your resume before a recruiter does. Run your resume through the free ATS resume check against one job you actually want. It takes just a few minutes and shows which keywords are missing.

Next, decode the posting. The free job description decoder pulls out what the employer really wants, so your resume and cover letter can answer it directly. A cover letter tailored to one job beats a generic one sent to a long list of companies. The cover letter tool can draft one in a few minutes, and you should edit it before sending.

Then look at the data for your target country. The hiring report index has a page for each country, and the Germany jobs page and remote jobs page show live listings you can filter.

Finally, pace yourself. Sending a pile of untailored applications in one week is how people end up with zero replies. Our guide on 500 applications with zero replies explains what usually goes wrong, and the ATS rejection guide covers the resume side. If you are open to remote roles, how to find a fully remote job in 2026 walks through where those jobs usually come from.

The job market is not closed. It is spread across many countries, many fields and many sources, and most people only search one corner of it. Start with a resume check, pick two or three countries that match your situation, and check the new postings every week.

All of the tools mentioned above are free. The ATS resume checker and the job description decoder need no signup, and you can see the full set on the free tools page.