Employment trends for the rest of the year should mimic the first half of 2010, according to a survey by CareerBuilder and USA TODAY of nationwide employers.
The survey found that 41%? of hiring managers plan to hire in the months of July through December and one-in-five plan to hire full-time, permanent employees in the third quarter. These numbers are similar to the previous two quarters.
“Employers began recruiting at a moderate, but consistent pace in the first half of 2010 as confidence levels inched upward amidst a better global financial picture,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. “The economic recovery has broadened, but employers remain guarded. The survey indicates that we’ll see sustainable new job growth through the remainder of the year, but it will be absent of any dramatic shifts.”
Growth Areas
Employers are looking for the following jobs, the survey found:
Customer Service (25%of hiring managers)
Sales (22%)
IT (18%)
Administrative (13%)
Business Development (10%)
Accounting/Finance (10%)
Three Trends for the Second Half of 2010
Employers are also looking for personnel to fill positions that are relatively new to the workforce. Twenty-four percent reported they are recruiting for jobs focused on areas such as social media, green energy, cyber security, global relations and healthcare reform.
Employers are also implementing measures to retain top performers, with 56% fearing that their top talent will leave their organizations as the U.S. produces more jobs.
The survey also noted a shortage of skilled labor as a significant trend – a factor that may account for employers’ fears of losing top performers. One-in-five employers (22%) reported that, despite an abundant labor pool, they still have positions for which they can’t find qualified candidates. Also nearly half (48%) of HR managers reported there is a shortage of skills within their organizations with IT, Customer Service and Communications being the areas with the greatest deficit.
Among industries, healthcare employers were the most likely to report a skills deficit with 63% of HR professionals in large healthcare organizations stating they have a shortage of qualified workers.
Hiring in Q2 2010
The amount of employers who added full-time, permanent headcount in the second quarter was slightly ahead of what was originally forecasted in the survey: 24% of employers reported they increased their full-time, permanent staff in the second quarter. This is up from 18% year over year and up 1% from last quarter.
Eleven percent decreased headcount, an improvement from 17% last year and 12% last quarter. Sixty-four percent reported no change in their number of full-time, permanent employees while one percent were undecided.
Hiring in Q3 2010
Twenty-one percent of employers plan to augment their full-time permanent headcount in the third quarter while 8% expect to downsize staffs. Sixty-five percent anticipate no change while 6% are undecided. Looking at actual hiring for the third quarter in 2009, 18% of employers reported they had hired full-time, permanent staff while 15% decreased headcount.
Compensation in Q3 2010
Fifteen percent of employers reported they instituted pay cuts at their organizations in the last 12 months. Of these employers, 28% were restoring pay levels in the first half of the year, 18% in the latter half and 25% in 2011 and 2012. Twenty-nine percent were unsure if and when pay would be restored to previous levels.
About the survey: The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive from May 18 to June 3, 2010. More than 2,500 hiring managers and human resource professionals and 4,400 workers across industries participated.
