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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A Hiring Boom

Well, it is good to be back at it after a nice Christmas break with the family.  It is even better to come back to read an article like this one from CNNMoney.com.  How about this: "We’re looking at some leading indicators on employment, and they’re all flashing green lights," said Bernard Baumohl of the Economic Outlook Group, a Princeton, N.J. research firm. Though most economists still expect a painfully high unemployment rate of about 9% at the end of this year, Baumohl and others think that stat masks more important signs of strength. Baumohl and some other economists forecast between 2.5 million and 3 million jobs being added to… Read More

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The Non-Employed

Every week more numbers come out to reveal another level of ugliness in this economy.  Today comes this article from CNNMoney.com.  The state that speaks volumes: Every state had an unemployment rate in October that was higher than a year ago, and every state has lost jobs over the course of the year. The recovery from this recession is going to take a long time as the hole keeps getting deeper.  I think it is safe to say that the unemployment rate is higher then what is being reported: Unemployment rates, which are taken from a separate survey, tend to rise even as the employers start hiring again, because the… Read More

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Q4 Hiring Stats

I think it is safe to say that predictions in this economy are difficult AT BEST to make accurately.  However, CareerBuilder has come out with their Q4 hiring forecast that contains some interesting information: HIRING IN Q4 2008 Going forward, 23 percent of employers plan to add full-time, permanent employees in the next three months, a slight decline from the previous quarter. Ten percent plan to decrease headcount while 63 percent anticipate no change and 4 percent are undecided. I always find the “no change” group as being rather esoteric – I assume that means no expansion or contraction.  But what of replacement?  If their company has normal attrition, will… Read More

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Return Of Middle Management?

Here is a trend I have not heard of recently (emphasis mine): The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports about 45 percent of U.S. job openings through 2014 will be in the hidden middle-level job sector, most of them technical jobs that cannot be outsourced. Mid-level means middle management, right?  Ok, maybe not.  Nonetheless, I still have not heard of this trend until reading this short excerpt from The Career News newsletter. And one last piece of information to offset a popular misnomer: Charted on a graph, the image of a robust technician economy belies a popular misconception. Most assume the job market is heaviest on the low-end of the spectrum… Read More

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The Resilient Economy

If you think of the obstacles that have been thrown at our economy over the past few years (oil prices, housing market, credit crunch, ongoing war, etc.), you start to appreciate just how resilient it is. When you work in the recruiting space, you pay close attention to the economic trends, especially the leading indicators, since hiring is a lagging indicator. This ERE.net post caught my attention as it deals with an insightful excerpt from Jonathan R. Hefferlin regarding the latest jobs report: There is renewed economic clatter with unemployment up by 0.2 to 5.7%, like there was a couple of months ago when it rose from 5 to 5.5%.… Read More

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Small Business Optimism

The economy is slow right now, but to call it a recession at this point is hyperbole.  Inc.com has a quick story on a survey of small-business owners.  The survey sample is small, but the results are encouraging. Though many in the small-business sector remain concerned with broad economy conditions, a growing number of owners and employees are upbeat about activity in their own market, a new survey finds. Of 500 small-business owners and employees recently polled by Opinion Research Corporation, a Princeton, N.J-based database firm, 65 percent rated their firm’s business conditions as good, while less than a third described them as poor. Though 71 percent said the U.S… Read More

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