White-collar openings are near a ten-year low. That much is not in dispute.
Key takeaways
- Bureau of Labor Statistics JOLTS data and LinkedIn Workforce Reports place white-collar job openings at their lowest levels in roughly a decade. Stanford's Institute for Economic Policy.
- 1069 live listings in this category publish a rate, at a median top-of-range of $90 an hour and a ceiling of $400.
- The work is remote contract work, asynchronous, with no set hours and no guaranteed volume.
- Applications screen on a short skills assessment rather than a resume or interview.
What was reported
The finding
Bureau of Labor Statistics JOLTS data and LinkedIn Workforce Reports place white-collar job openings at their lowest levels in roughly a decade. Stanford's Institute for Economic Policy Research argues that much of the AI job-loss narrative is overstated, and notes that some firms adopting AI most deeply are also among those hiring most.
What it means is very much in dispute. Stanford's economic policy researchers argue the AI job-loss narrative is overstated, and point out that some of the companies adopting AI most aggressively are also among the biggest hirers. We think that caveat deserves as much airtime as the scary number, and it rarely gets it.
What the listings pay
What we can report directly is what is open. 1069 live listings on our board publish a rate, at a median top-of-range of $90 an hour and a ceiling of $400. All of it is remote and nearly all of it is contract.
| # | Role | Advertised rate | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BigLaw lawyers | $140 to $400 an hour | micro1 |
| 2 | CUDA Engineering Expert | $300 to $300 an hour | Mercor |
| 3 | Street Performing Musician | $100 to $300 an hour | micro1 |
| 4 | Data Scientist | $245 to $280 an hour | micro1 |
| 5 | US-Based Business Owners Using Google Chat | $250 to $250 an hour | Mercor |
| 6 | Cybersecurity Research Expert, Offensive Security & Vulnerability Research | $200 to $250 an hour | Mercor |
| 7 | Senior Design Expert - Paid AI Design Research Study | $150 to $250 an hour | Mercor |
| 8 | Physician Talent Network | $110 to $250 an hour | Mercor |
| 9 | Machine Learning Engineer Talent Network | $70 to $250 an hour | Mercor |
| 10 | Disease-Area Clinician, Trial Endpoints & Prescribing | $150 to $230 an hour | Mercor |
Source: 1069 live listings on this board that publish a rate, read directly from each posting on 2026-09-06. Listings without a published rate are excluded rather than estimated.
How this compares across the board
A rate only means something next to the alternatives. This is every category we track with at least five listings publishing a rate, ranked by median top-of-range, so you can see where this work sits rather than taking a single number on trust.
| Category | Listings | Median low | Median top | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legal | 95 | $100 | $140 | $400 |
| Medical | 68 | $77 | $120 | $400 |
| Consulting | 45 | $80 | $120 | $280 |
| Finance | 94 | $80 | $110 | $280 |
| Engineering | 114 | $70 | $100 | $300 |
| Research/PhD | 132 | $70 | $90 | $280 |
| Writing | 36 | $40 | $80 | $280 |
| Bilingual | 78 | $44 | $52 | $120 |
| Annotation | 25 | $12 | $24 | $120 |
Same source and date as above. Categories are matched on listing title, so a role can appear in more than one.
What it means for you
That is not a solution to a decade-low job market. It is one channel that happens to be hiring while conventional postings contract, and it is worth knowing about for that reason alone.
Who should apply
Two checks before you spend time on an application. Confirm the role accepts applicants from your country with the eligibility checker, since a meaningful share of listings carry location requirements. Then run the advertised rate through the take-home calculator, because this is contract work and the headline figure is before self-employment tax.
Applications complete on the hiring platform and usually take a few minutes, with a short skills assessment in place of an interview. Fill in every credential, language and professional background field on your profile. Those are what route you to the better paid listings, and most applicants leave them blank.
Frequently asked questions
Are white-collar openings really at a decade low?
That is what JOLTS and LinkedIn workforce data indicate. The interpretation is contested, with Stanford arguing AI's role is smaller than commonly claimed.
What is hiring instead?
Contract expert work for AI labs. We track 1069 live listings publishing a rate, at a median top-of-range of $90 an hour.
Is this a replacement for a salaried job?
For most people, no. It is contract work with no benefits and variable hours. A small number of full-time salaried lab roles do exist and are listed separately.
Which categories are hiring most?
Credentialed professional work, particularly legal, medical and finance, plus a current surge in bilingual roles.
How current is this data?
It is read from live listings each time the pages rebuild, and the count and date appear on every page.
Sources
See every live role
The full board updates several times a week, with the advertised rate on each listing and closed roles removed.