No surprise here but the Career News is reporting that candidates are negotiating for higher starting salaries in this current market (emphasis mine):
Job candidates are more apt to ask for higher starting salaries this coming year, and companies may have to up the ante to attract them. That’s according to an annual study on employment and compensation trends by Robert Half International (RHI) and CareerBuilder.com titled The (EDGE) Report.
Fifty-seven percent of hiring managers polled for the project said it was difficult to find qualified candidates 12 months ago; 91 percent said recruiting is equally or more challenging today. More than half (52 percent) of hiring managers who are having trouble recruiting cited a shortage of qualified professionals.
As the competition for skilled labor has become more pronounced, 58 percent of workers polled said they are more likely to negotiate a better compensation package today than 12 months ago – double the number from last year’s poll.
We are seeing this negotiating approach in our day-to-day activities also. Candidates know it is a tight market and they have other opportunities. Keep this fact in mind if you are entering an offer discussion with a top candidate.