Career Coaching
in Portland

Employment Landscape

Portland’s job market in early 2026 reflects both real challenges and pockets of opportunity. Intel, once a major employer, has continued downsizing—cutting at least 5,400 jobs since mid‑2025 and bringing its local workforce to a decade‑low, while laying off 2,400 workers in July 2025 alone—raising broader concerns about the region’s reliance on semiconductor employment. At the same time, clean energy is emerging as a regional strength. Over 230,000 clean energy jobs now exist in the metro area, with average wages around $119,000, and educational pathways are expanding to feed this growing field. In the health care sector, strong hiring persists: statewide forecasts call for the private health care and social assistance sector to add over 40,000 jobs by 2034, a roughly 13 percent increase, with the Portland region expected to grow ahead of statewide trends. Construction, professional and business services, and transportation and warehousing also show moderate expansion in projections. However, sectors like manufacturing, leisure and hospitality, and financial activities remain thin or contracting, and unemployment in Oregon recently ticked up toward 5 percent. Job seekers will find demand in health, green sectors, and logistics—but should be ready for competition and recognize that search remains difficult, especially in legacy or struggling industries.

Dominant Industries

Typical Roles

Hiring Patterns

The strongest hiring has been in health care, clean energy, and logistics related to transportation and warehousing. Meanwhile, manufacturing and professional services tied to legacy industries are either contracting or flat, while the tech sector faces volatility due to Intel’s ongoing cuts. Data infrastructure roles tied to growing data centers offer some upside.

"Looking for work in Portland now means targeting health, green energy, or logistics roles—they are where hiring still happens, even as big names like Intel shrink and other sectors stall."