In a recent article on the Tightening Labor Market from the SHRM website (membership required) 2 recent surveys go beyond the unemployment rates and the number of new jobs created to show the demand for talented workers is increasing. Both of the surveys were conducted by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
The first one surveyed 3,000 job seekers and found that among those landing jobs in the first quarter, the median job search lasted just 2.7 months, more than a month shorter than the peak of 4.0 months reached in the third quarter of 2004. It was the lowest job-search time recorded since the second quarter of 2001, when search times fell to a record low of 2.1 months.
The second survey confirmed the struggle to find skilled wiorkers, conducted during the first week of April among 100 human resource executives. In the survey, 66 percent said it was becoming more difficult to find qualified candidates and/or retain workers on the payroll. A quarter of respondents said they were already experiencing a severe shortage of workers.