January is over, we’ve arrived at mid-February, and where are the jobs? It may help you to know a few of the numbers, percentages, and statistics to figure out how to beat the odds. Here are some facts.
In an article in the Los Angeles Times at the end of 2011, it talked about less than a quarter of companies hiring in 2012. The article included statistics from a survey CareerBuilder conducted of over 3,000 HR professionals within the U.S. Read full survey. The results revealed that 23% of hiring professionals said they would add employees to their full-time staff in 2012. That figure is down by 1% from last year. On the other side of the curve are companies who are planning on cutting staff and that figure (7%) remains the same from the prior year.
Demographics
Let’s look at the demographics. More companies in the western region of the US are likely to hire new employees over companies in other US regions. The twist is that west coast companies also plan to downsize. Survey showed that 8% in the Northeast, 7% in the South and 6% in the Midwest also plan to reduce headcount. Then there are companies who are giving more attention to diversity (29% overall), with 20% focusing on Latino, black and female candidates and 44% want bilingual employees.
Salaries
So where are salaries headed this year? More than half of currently employed people should get pay raises in the 1-5% range, and even new employees are likely to get up to 32% higher starting salaries. Why? One reason is that hiring managers are concerned that top talent will resign because of low salaries and work overload. Last year 34% of employees quit for those reasons. That’s one-third of the workforce!
Company size
With small businesses (less than 250 employees) still providing the bulk of jobs in the US, the outlook for finding a position with a small company is more optimistic than most. Chief Executive of CareerBuilder, Matt Ferguson, has confidence that hiring will improve in the second half of 2012. Ferguson said, “Many companies have been operating lean and have already pushed productivity limits.”
As an executive, how do all these facts, figures and percentages influence you?
1. The outlook is brighter for higher starting salaries. That is always a concern when high-level executives change companies.
2. If you are not getting good results in your job search, maybe you are not targeting the right demographics or company size. If your talent and skills are strong and apply to a small business model, or can be adapted to a different area of the country, then you may want to consider modifying your job search to find more job opportunities.
Overall, take cues from respected and trusted resources. Explore what might work for you and apply those strategies. Put aside what isn’t working and focus on what is. As an executive, you know that much of the success that is attained in life and business is through trial and error, and perseverance prevails. Check back in six months and see if the experts were on track.