25 Fastest-Growing Job Titles for 2016

From Monster.com, I doubt you would guess what is number 1…Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers.  Seriously, there are 13% more of them now than 1 year ago.  Number 2 you might actually get – Registered Nurses which makes sense with the aging Baby Boomer generation. Sales Managers made the list, but you will have to follow the link to find out at what spot they landed.

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It’s All About Their Career Path

LinkedIn recently surveyed over 10,000 people who changed jobs in 2015 to find out why they made a change.  Some interesting findings: #1 reason they left – Lack of advancement opportunities (45%) #1 reason they choose their new employer – Career path & opportunity (59%) I’m convinced that there are always a myriad of reasons behind a job change, but the primary reason is simply the most interesting.  I’ve been beating this drum for some time, but it warrants repeating – you must provide a general career path to all new hires today.  Many times in sales the thought process is to simply hire a strong salesperson and let them… Read More

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The On-Demand Economy

More and more workers are moving away from traditional jobs and towards the “gig” economy of on-demand roles that have a finite time frame.  Some of the startling trend from the Yahoo article (emphasis mine): The report said the number of independent workers in America is expected to grow from 30.2 million to roughly 37.9 million in 2020, in part due to businesses seeking flexibility and also because young adults are more comfortable in the lifestyle. Adding occasional independents, the projected number of US adults working independently will grow to an estimated 54 million or nearly 45 percent of the private, non-farm workforce, the group said. I’m not sure what… Read More

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Candidates Are Negotiating Pay

I can attest to the findings referenced in this Manpower survey: Just last week, ManpowerGroup released the results of its sixth-annual Talent Shortage Survey. The survey included almost 40,000 employers across 39 countries and territories. Globally, 34 percent of employers say they are having difficulty filling positions. The three most challenging occupations are Technicians, Sales Representatives, and Skilled Trades. The reasons most often cited are lack of experience, lack of available applicants and lack of technical skills. In the US, there is the added reason that candidates looking (sic.) for more pay than is offered. Don’t you find that last line interesting?  Candidates are negotiating the compensation plans.  In sales,… Read More

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How To Tell You Are In A Bad Economy

From the Herman Trend Alert (emphasis mine): In December, companies with fewer than 300 employees experienced employment growth of 1.54 percent, representing the largest percentage increase since June 2010. 1.54 percent?  That is encouraging?  I know, I realize there has been little to no growth, but 1.54 percent is almost as miniscule as it can be.  This is the largest growth in 18 months.  To say it is a difficult employment market would be a monumental understatement.

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A Secondary Effect Of The Recession

Most people agree that there will be a demand for workers as soon as we start the recovery process (no, I do not subscribe to the idea that the recession ended in June of 2009).  Companies are running in a most efficient manner right now due to the fact that they had to cut staff to the bone.  Growth/expansion will require an expansion of most company’s workforces.  The supply of workers will be limited due to the Baby Boomer retirements and the great decrease in workers in Gen X. Along with this shortage comes another important limitation in the workforce.  From the Herman Trend’s weekly email (emphasis mine): “Unfortunately, with… Read More

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News From The Twilight Zone

From CNNMoney.com: A jobless recovery? Hardly. By historical standards, the labor market is recovering nicely — job growth has started earlier than in past recessions. I guess I was unaware of how good it is out there.  I think this article comes with a large serving of Kool-Aid also.

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Employment Still Lagging

The latest employment numbers are out and it doesn’t look good (emphasis mine). US employers added 430,000 jobs to nonfarm payrolls in May, but 411,000 of those were temporary census workers. That number was also well short of the more than 500,000 economists had expected. The unemployment rate, however, fell to 9.7 percent from 9.9 percent in April. I still don’t expect to see significant hiring gains until Q4 of this year at the earliest.  My highly non-scientific polling (talking to customers) shows that most are still in a tentative mode.  Perhaps some more enlightened analysis will surface later today.

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2010 Hiring Trends

From the Herman Group newsletter: According to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Surveys, the US will have a year-over-year increase of about five percent with a record-tying 73 percent of employers keeping staff levels stable. Twelve of the 13 industry sectors surveyed report positive net employment outlooks, meaning employers in most industry sectors plan to add staff during the second quarter. The only sector expecting negative growth is Government, however with the passage of the recent healthcare legislation, we believe that may not be an accurate forecast. Moreover, among the 201 local metropolitan statistical areas surveyed, “94 percent indicate a positive or neutral net employment outlook, indicating cautious optimism is… Read More

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Double Dip

The title of this post is one that brings pause to many people.  Are we headed towards a double dip recession?  I don’t think we can say one way or another quite yet.  However, today’s numbers are not good: The number of Americans filing for initial unemployment insurance surged to just below the 500,000 level last week, and have climbed more than 12% over the past two weeks, the government said Thursday. … The 4-week moving average of initial claims was 473,750, up 6,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 467,750. I have talked to many companies who are in a holding mode for hiring.  Thankfully, I have not… Read More

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