The startup ecosystem is a major player in the job market with startups creating jobs at a higher rate compared to larger companies. What's more, the U.S. has long been a hotbed for innovation and entrepreneurship with venture capital funding fueling the growth of countless startups across the country.

Although U.S. startups faced economic instability last year, the current state of the startup job market has shown resilience and adaptability to changing trends.

Our latest report, launched today, delves into insights and patterns observed in various industries and metro cities across the U.S.

About the data

We analyzed 7,500 U.S. privately owned startups and scaleups and tracked the number of new job openings advertised between January 2022 through March 2023. The analysis is based on data from NGP Capital's AI Platform Q whereby the dataset consists of technology startups active in the markets NGP Capital invests in.‍

Key findings

1. New York City and the Bay Area reign as champions for prospective job seekers. These two cities account for more than 50% of the total job openings.

2. Seed hiring is holding steady at 86% YoY from March 2022 to March 2023.

3. Healthtech and life science jobs remain ahead of other industries in hiring.

4. B2C and B2B jobs experienced a similar decline.

Between January 2022 and March 2023 190,000 job ads were placed, equivalent to roughly 25 job openings per company. The report segments the job openings by metro area, company stage, industry, and compares B2B and B2C. When comparing Q1 2022 to Q1 2023, job openings went down from 19,000 in April 2022 to 9,000 in March 2023, representing a 52% decrease.

Early signs of stability

However, the number of job openings began to stabilize in the beginning of 2023 with three consecutive months of 9,000+ job openings per month, suggesting the end of the decline.

Upal Basu, NGP Capital’s Palo Alto-based Partner, said: “2022 was a tough year for startups, but we are optimistic that things will start to stabilize this year.”

While the data shows the U.S. startup job landscape was significantly affected by the economic slowdown with a decline in job openings, there are signs of recovery and ongoing job growth in specific industries.

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