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.
The Realities of a Tight Labor Market
With the U.S. unemployment rate at a low 4.4% and a record 6.2 million job openings in July per the Labor Department, some employers are getting creative to solve hiring woes. A survey from CareerBuilder found that of the 2,000 companies surveyed, almost 50% of them had trouble finding qualified candidates – up from 41% in 2016. For some, the time-to-fill for both blue and white-collar roles has reached the tipping point. To curb this, employers are hiring candidates that have little or no experience, even for roles that historically had strict hiring requirements, per USA Today.
Paul McDonald, senior executive director of Robert Half states, “Companies aren’t going for 100% of the job description. They’re going for approximately 70% to 75% of the job description but they’re going with individuals who have high potential and are a good cultural fit.”
In addition, other employers are creating programs to train new hires that wouldn’t have necessarily had such support prior. Per a survey from ManpowerGroup, that number has risen 12%, moving the needle to almost half of U.S. employers offering these programs. Still another solution being exercised is splitting a role between multiple candidates…and therefore decreasing the pay. Tom Gimbel, CEO of LaSalle Network, states, “Other companies are picking the candidate who meets most qualifications and then bringing on another worker to handle the rest – effectively splitting the job in two and paying each employee about half the original salary.”
Our just-released Annual Recruiting Benchmark Report for 2017 dives into both the industry signs that serve as indicators of candidates holding the power position as well as recommendations for employers on how best to handle.
Careers in Demand with Highest Paying Roles
For those looking to take advantage of this candidate’s market, Glassdoor published its list of highest paying jobs in America – from February 1, 2016, through January 31, 2017, job titles that had at least 100 salary reports were analyzed (excluding C-suite). Engineering, medicine, and law were the industries that came out on top for careers with the highest salaries. The top 3 roles were Physician (Median base salary: $187,876), Pharmacy Manager (Median base salary: $149,064), and Patent Attorney (Median base salary: $139,272). In our Annual Recruiting Benchmark Report for 2017, we outline key trends in salaries and fees across the marketplace, as well as within the four hot industries of IT, Pharma and Biotech, Healthcare, and Financial Services.
In addition, Glassdoor compiled a list of the top 25 U.S. cities to land a job, ranking cities according to median base salary, job satisfaction, quality of living, etc. The top 3 cities are: Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and Kansas City.
Still, Raises For Many Are At a Standstill
Despite the tight labor market described above, a survey by Aon finds that pay raises for U.S. workers are expected to average 3% in 2018, while 2017 saw 2.9%. Enjoy that .1% difference, everybody!
As well, bonuses and other examples of variable pay are expected to be 12.5% of payroll which is the lowest we’ve seen since 2013. Ken Abosch, Aon’s broad-based compensation leader states, “Although the economy is improving and job growth is strengthening, companies remain under pressure to increase productivity and minimize costs. As a result, we continue to see relatively flat salary increase budgets across employee groups.” Further, in surveying these 1,602 companies, Aon found that 40% of employers are reducing or eliminating base pay increases for lesser performers and 15% are setting more aggressive performance targets.
According to a CareerBuilder survey:
Some industries are doling out bigger raises. The increases are expected to average 3.3% in the accounting/consulting/legal sector, and 3.2% in automotive, computers and telecommunications. But workers in construction/engineering and medical devices are expected to see below-average 2.8% hikes while those in education receive 2.7% increases. See a breakdown of the highest average salaries per industry as well as per role in our Annual Recruiting Benchmark Report for 2017.
Quick Bits
Step by Step
For the first time last year, women in the U.S. earned 80% as much as men. Per the Census Bureau data out Tuesday, ’the median female worker with a full-time, year-round job made 80.5 cents for every man-earned dollar in 2016.’
On the Rise
U.S. staffing market revenue projected to grow 3% in 2017 and in 2018 to top $145 billion. The strongest areas in 2018 are projected to be education and marketing/creative. Our Annual Agency Recruiting Benchmark Report for 2017 includes our outlook toward 2018, summarizing emerging trends we currently see forming.
Liar, Liar
A recent survey from CareerBuilder finds that 75%, or 3 in 4 HR managers, have found lies on candidate’s resumes. Interestingly, 39% of managers spend less than 1 minute scanning an individual resume and 19% (1 in 5) spend less than 30 seconds.
Strong Job Market Trumps School
Full-time MBA programs in the U.S. saw a decrease in applications for the third year in a row. This is yet another indicator of a strong job market as business schools are finding it challenging to lure young professionals.
Top 50 Companies in the Last Decade
Forbes released their list of the top 50 companies between 1917-2017. Only two companies from 1917 make the list for 2017…and three of the largest today are less than 25 years old.
Two-Year Itch
In a new Aon study, after two years on the job, women show larger decreases than men in engagement, their viewpoint pertaining to the fairness of their compensation, as well as the feeling that it would take a lot for them to leave their jobs.
Friend Request Accepted
According to a survey from OfficeTeam, 71% of employees polled think it’s okay to ‘friend’ co-workers on Facebook.
The Golden Years
A survey from the RAND Corporation finds that more than 50% of retired folks would go back to work under the right conditions. (which makes sense due to the economy and current state of the Social Security System)
