This paper studies how firms adjust their hiring standards in response to rising labor market tightness, combining German online job postings from 2017 to 2024 with official statistics on open positions and job seekers. We construct a firm panel and examine adjustments along three dimensions of human capital: formal requirements, job complexity levels within occupations, and task-specific skill bundles. Exploiting firm-specific exposure to tightness over time, we distinguish changes in job contents from compositional shifts in the jobs that firms post. Our results show that tighter labor markets are associated with increased selectivity rather than greater flexibility. Firms raise education requirements, but shift experience requirements toward intermediate levels, indicating different adjustment margins within formal credentials. Recruitment also shifts toward specialist and expert roles within broader occupations, while skill bundles increasingly emphasize cognitive and digital competencies. These patterns are strongest in urban labor markets and among older firms, but weakest in public-sector-related jobs. Overall, our findings suggest that in an era of persistent labor shortages, firms do not necessarily respond by broadening access to jobs.

Please note that this is an internal talk. If you want to participate, please write an email to