Each week, we’ll brief you on notable stats and happenings related to current events impacting the job market now or in the foreseeable future.
ERE 2017
We just arrived back in Austin from a whirlwind few days at the ERE Conference in Minneapolis, MN. So many great folks in Talent Acquisition stopped by our booth, and many others participated in the two roundtable segments we hosted on Benchmarking & Analytics (check out our newly released Annual Recruiting Benchmark Report for 2017 for a deeper dive on all the growing trends around salary, fees, and more.) This is a hot topic! We’ll dive into our learnings from the conference as well as key themes and challenges that came up during our roundtable sessions in a separate blog post – so stay tuned for that!
BountyJobs Bites
Amazon Plans to Hire More than 120,000 for Holiday Help
The online retail giant will staff up big this holiday season with 120,000 jobs across 33 states. Included in those roles will be increasing staff for their sorting centers, fulfillment centers, and customer-service sites.
Unemployment Claims Lowest in 44 Years
“The US Department of Labor today reported the US four-week moving average of initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 248.250 last week, down 9,500 from the previous week’s average, according to seasonally adjusted numbers. The previous week’s average was revised upward by 250.”
ADP Report States Slow Wage Growth
Wage growth has come to a lull in the third quarter, according to a report from ADP. Wage growth stayed at 4.4% year over year, with job switchers’ wage growth at a slight decrease quarter over quarter from 3.4% to 3.3%.
“Despite the deceleration we’ve been experiencing in overall wage growth, we continue to see evidence of the strengthening labor market when you look at specific areas,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “As employers strive to retain skilled workers, we see wage increases for full-time job holders in all sectors. Most notable are the information and construction industries.”
Flexible Work is In Demand for Retail
Research released by ManpowerGroup Solutions states that retail workers in the U.S. place a higher value on flexible work twice as much as those in other industries. Shorter work weeks and flexible shifts are desired more than monetary compensation and benefits.
“Employers across the US are experiencing talent shortages and retailers are not immune,” said Jim McCoy, VP of ManpowerGroup Solutions RPO and global practice leader. “The retail industry is competing for workers who seek new ways of working, value flexibility and the ability to choose their own schedule. To attract the brightest and best, employers need to develop an attractive employer brand and demonstrate that they can offer people flexibility, the option to better blend work and home, and the opportunity to develop their skills.”
Goal for 80% BSNs by 2020 Falling Short
The National Academy of Medicine (then the Institute of Medicine) suggested that 80% of RNs should have a baccalaureate degree by 2020, per their 2010 report.
“There are more nurses earning baccalaureate degrees, but by 2020 we are unlikely to achieve the 80% goal,” says Chenjuan Ma, PhD, associate professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. Her assessment is based on data from a newly released study published in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship.
Telecommuting Increasing Along with Technology Access
According to the University of Alabama, 20 to 25 percent of American workers currently telecommute in some way, though up to 90 percent would like to. Slowly, the traditional office is fading. – Recruiting Headlines
Working Remotely Can Slow Employee Turnover
Per the State of Remote Work report for 2017 released this week by Owl Labs and TINYPulse, “companies which support remote work have 25 percent lower employee turnover than companies that don’t allow remote work. This information indicates a significant opportunity for employers to retain workers by expanding their remote and flexible work offerings.”
The 2017 State of Sourcing Survey
SourceCon released their annual survey – check out the results here.
SMEs Cite Talent Sourcing as Top Priority
American Express has conducted research finding that nearly a quarter (23%) of firms state that after launching their business, hiring new staff has been their biggest business decision, above choosing suppliers (20%) and investing in technology (19%).
Recruiters Open to Embracing ‘Gig Economy’
“When 1,000 recruiters were asked via live polling whether they view the gig economy as ‘friend’ or ‘foe’, 78% chose ‘friend’ and 22% chose ‘foe’, indicating that most recruiters are keen to embrace the opportunities presented by the growing contingent workforce.”
