The number of jobs in higher education declined 0.5 percent in Q1 2015, according to a recent report from HigherEdJobs, a leading job and career site for higher education professionals.  

According to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data by HigherEdJobs, the 0.5 percent drop in higher education employment represents a loss of 8,600 college and university jobs. Community colleges were particularly hard hit, losing 3.8 percent of their workforce, or about 2,700 jobs. Four-year institutions lost only 0.3 percent of their faculty and staff, or about 5,900 jobs.  

Interestingly, while the number of jobs in higher education is down, the report found that ads for open positions in academia were up during Q1 2015, and at a faster pace from a year ago. 

The divergence of trends between job postings and higher education jobs could indicate that institutions are experiencing increased employee turnover, perhaps due to retirement, moving to other institutions, or for positions outside of academia.  "When institutions have a lot of job openings, it doesn't necessarily mean those are new jobs," said John Ikenberry, president of HigherEdJobs. "A high percentage of these openings are for existing positions that have come open. When institutions don't fill their vacancies fast enough to keep up with the number of employees who exit, employment will decline."  

There was good news for individuals looking for full-time faculty positions, as ads for those positions increased 2.7 percent from a year ago. However, that growth was dwarfed by the increase in ads for part-time, adjunct faculty, which surged 37.4 percent.

The report analyzes the most current data from BLS and HigherEdJobs' posting trends from colleges and universities that have continuously subscribed to the company's unlimited posting plan for four years, a group of roughly 890 schools that have no financial deterrent not to post any openings. The full report can be viewed at http://www.higheredjobs.com/career/quarterly-report.cfmhttp://www.higheredjobs.com/career/quarterly-report.cfm.