How does the academic job market look so far?

Given the catastrophe that was last year's academic job market, readers may be wondering how this year's market looks so far. Here are the results of some quick searches that I did for job postings during the month of August for the past handful of years:

• 2021: 35 jobs
• 2020: 17 jobs
• 2019: 53 jobs
• 2018: 42 jobs
• 2017: 35 jobs

In short, there's more than twice as many jobs advertised this year than at the same point last year, indicating a significant job-market rebound. However, compared to pre-COVID levels, the market is still on the lower end of things. Hopefully the number of postings accelerates, as I know of some jobs that could have been posted by now that haven't been posted yet. I'll keep readers updated!

Comments

[Champollion Triarche]

Time for some real philosophers to get working on medical statistics and equations. Public discourse for a year and a half has been polluted by purported experts who anxiously parrot phrases from politicians and the media...because they want to be politicians. That would be so cool, wouldn't it? Political power finally at your grasp! Then your economy and society are destroyed, and you wonder what happened.

I suggest we all bypass the necrotic media and malevolent politicians...and communicate genuine knowledge and reasoning to the public. If we just took a little time to work on some of these logical issues involving COVID...philosophy could enjoy more prestige than at any time since 1914. And anyone who took the time to solve some problems, even small ones, would enjoy roughly the public acclaim that scholarly veterans enjoyed after 1945. (Except in Germany, that is.) At the very least, people would understand and appreciate that you took some time off from ritualized arguments to help your countries and the world....

Now go ahead, mock or ignore what I wrote and then wonder why there aren't any jobs. Kant, Nietzsche, Rawls, etc. have better things for you to do.

[market onlooker]

do people think that the jobs coming out might be consistently more delayed? I noticed a lot more jobs last year coming out in November and December, stretching well into the summer for some UK positions -- maybe because of covid-related uncertainty regarding teaching and travel restrictions. If that trend continues this year, that might be a reason for optimism; perhaps more jobs might be waiting in the wings than usual.