These are two distinct statistics, and the gap between them is one of the most informative things in labour market data. Knowing exactly what each measures is what lets you read the market properly.
Job openings (vacancies): a measure of intent
Definition: a position that exists, is unfilled, could be started within a defined short period, and for which the employer is actively recruiting.
What it includes: genuinely funded active vacancies, roles pending final budget approval, roles being advertised while an internal candidate is favoured, evergreen pipeline postings, and roles where the employer is holding out for an ideal candidate.
What it is: a snapshot of stated intention at a point in time.
Where to find it: ONS vacancy estimates (UK, monthly, by industry); JOLTS job openings (US).
Hires: a measure of commitment
Definition: the number of people who actually started a new job in the period.
What it is: a flow over a period, not a snapshot. Actual commitment, actual money spent.
Where to find it: JOLTS hires (US); for the UK, employment flows and workforce jobs data in the ONS labour market release.
Why the two diverge
A vacancy can persist for months without producing a hire, for reasons covered in detail in why companies advertise without hiring: unapproved budget, raised internal bars, slow multi-stage processes, internal candidates, pipeline building, and wage expectation gaps.
The important point is that a high vacancy count with a low hires rate is not a contradiction in the data. It is a meaningful signal about employer behaviour.
The ratio is the useful measure
Divide hires by vacancies and you get a rough indication of how efficiently openings convert into jobs. Track it over time:
- Ratio stable, both rising: genuine expansion
- Ratio falling: employers advertising but not committing - the signature of a cautious or frozen market
- Ratio rising while both fall: fewer roles, but those that exist are filling - a smaller but functioning market
You can also compute vacancies per unemployed person, a standard measure of market tightness. Above one, there are more openings than searchers; below one, the reverse. Compare it against its own history rather than against one.
Two more series worth knowing
Quits - voluntary departures. Most vacancies exist because someone left, so low quits means fewer vacancies appearing at all.
Time to fill - how long vacancies persist. Rising time-to-fill with stable vacancy counts means the same roles are sitting open longer, which inflates the vacancy snapshot without any new demand.
Why this matters for a job search
Vacancy counts are the figure most quoted in the press and the least useful for a searcher, because they include roles that will never be filled externally. The hires rate and the quits rate describe the market you are actually competing in. Prioritising roles with signs of genuine urgency follows directly from understanding this distinction.
The general principle
Two statistics with similar names can measure quite different things - intent versus commitment, stock versus flow. Checking exactly what a figure counts before interpreting it is most of statistical literacy, and it applies to your own business reporting just as much as to national data.
The Statistics for Business course at London School of Business UK builds that habit. Enquire today.