WorkWhile launches NEED index after requested shifts jump 53%

WorkWhile has launched a labor shortage index after employer-requested shifts on its hourly-work platform rose 53% over 90 days, outpacing a 30% increase in active workers, the company said in its Oct. 14 announcement and accompanying analysis.

Platform expansion accounts for part of the increase: employers posting shifts grew 11%, according to the analysis by WorkWhile Econ Lab head Debora Loccisano. But both the share of slots workers signed up for and the share actually worked fell. WorkWhile interprets those declines as evidence that worker supply is failing to keep pace with demand.

The National Employment & Elasticity Deficit index, or NEED, combines three measures from shift-level transactions over rolling seven-day windows: the share of requested hours left unfilled, the time needed to fill shifts and the premium above posted wages required to secure workers. WorkWhile is positioning that last measure as an early warning of wage-push inflation, alongside a faster reading of shortages than government surveys provide.

The weekly index stood at 115 for the week of Oct. 12, down from 120 the previous week but still in the company's Elevated Need category. A score of 100 represents a balanced market under its methodology.

The measure covers WorkWhile's flexible hourly-shift market, and its employer mix changes as the platform grows. Loccisano describes it as a complement to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey rather than a substitute.

Regional readings show substantially different conditions within that market. The South registered 122 and the Northeast 115, both classified as Elevated Need. The Midwest, at 108, and the West, at 96, remained in the balanced range.