>>By the Numbers: August 10, 2018

By the Numbers: August 10, 2018

BountyJobs Bites

Strong Economy and Employment Market? Not for Everyone

The Numbers: The number of temp workers is higher than it was for the past two recessions – with more than three million workers falling into this category; full-time work for some has been hard to find. Those in the 55 years and over camp aren’t faring much better; they are the largest group of workers and also experiencing slower annual earnings growth than other age groups. Construction once thought to be a solid industry for employment, now has the highest level of unemployed workers (based on the average for the year ending in June). Our report, Cognitive Dissonance: Reports vs. Reality, What’s Really Happening in the Employment Market, goes behind the headlines and uncovers what most are not reporting – download the report here.

Job Openings Top Unemployed Numbers for Three Consecutive Months

The Numbers:  Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of job openings in June (6.7 million) outnumbered those unemployed (6.6 million). This marks the third month in the row that job openings have topped the number of those unemployed.

Unemployment Rate Dips in July

The Numbers: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows the unemployment rate dipping back to 3.9% in July after increasing to 4% in June. The labor market saw a gain of 157K nonfarm jobs – professional and business services, manufacturing, and healthcare/social assistance were the industries with the biggest job gains.

Hard to Hire Survey: BountyJobs Reports

Our annual survey is OPEN! ‘Hard to Hire: Third-Party Recruiting and the State of Talent Acquisition Survey‘ is for talent acquisition pros like you, to positively impact our industry with a follow-up report from your responses. We want to hear from you! Take the survey here.

July Employment Index Signals Strong Economy and Labor Market

The Numbers: The Conference Board’s US Employment Trends Index rose 5.4% year over year in July to a reading of 109.89. Growth in the index, which measures eight labor market indicators, remains robust.

“The growth in the Employment Trends Index remains strong, supported by positive contributions from all of its components,” said Gad Levanon, Chief Economist, North America, at The Conference Board. “We expect economic activity to remain strong in the coming months, and the rapid expansion of employment should continue despite the very tight labor market.”

Challenges in Hiring Millennials and Blue Collar Industries

The Numbers:  Axios reports that as there are now more job openings than people unemployed, many industries are also finding it hard to recruit millennials. Some notable industries facing this challenge include construction, farming, trucking, and 911 call centers.

Finance Execs Take on HR

The Numbers: A survey from Robert Half shows that financial executives’ roles are expanding – when asked ‘in what areas their roles have grown the most’, 39% stated HR, with IT and operations close behind at 28% and 21% respectively. Compliance, hiring and compensation, as well as organizational culture were the top areas of collaboration.

Millennials Up for Job Hopping

The Numbers: Deliotte’s global survey found that 43% of millennials are assuming they’ll jump to another job within two years. 61% of Gen Z respondents stated the same. Of the millennials that stated they would leave their job, 62% felt that the gig economy would be a viable option.

Gig Economy Freelancers Typically Paid Late

The Numbers: Per a survey from Bill.com, 45% of gig economy independent contractors are not paid by their clients on time. As well, more than half are still paid by check and 54% said ‘it takes too long to get their money’.

Work-Live Balance Positively Impacts Employee Loyalty

The Numbers: A poll from Robert Half found that 75% of workers feel they are achieving ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ work-life balance. The survey also found that those with work-life balance are ‘twice as happy, more productive, and show greater loyalty to their employers than those struggling to find balance’.  39% of employee respondents stated that employers were responsible for creating work-life balance but in a separate survey, 26% of business leaders felt it is up to the employee.

Workers Who See Misconduct are More Likely to Jump Ship

The Numbers:  About 30% of employees have seen misconduct on the job within the past two years – these workers are twice as likely to quit their jobs after witnessing the act, per a survey from Gartner. Of those that observed the misconduct, 59% say they are in an active job search – that drops to 29% for those that have not witnessed misconduct.

Most CEOs Not Ready for the Role at the Onset

The Numbers: About 68% of CEOs surveyed stated they ‘weren’t fully prepared for their role’ per a study from Egon Zehnder. Impacting change in the company’s culture was found to be more difficult than originally thought. And 74% of respondents stated their previous experience helped them prepare while 87% of experienced CEOs found they were fully prepared for their new role. Of those that were promoted internally only 28% were prepared.

Age of Manager Pales In Comparison to Their Ability to Inspire

The Numbers: 84% of workers state that how old their manager is doesn’t matter as long the manager is inspirational per a Workmonitor Survey by Randstad. 76% of those surveyed felt that they did prefer that their direct managers be their age or older, however.

Training Programs Increasing Due to Worker Shortage

The Numbers: Staffing Industry Review magazine found that many firms are implementing training programs to expand the skill set of their staff rather than depending on the competitive hiring market to fill their roles.

Women and Men Have Differing Views on Pay Comparisons

The Numbers: Men value seniority and external pay comparisons while women value internal pay comparisons and expected work duties more, per a World at Work report.

Majority of Tech Workers Haven’t Experienced Discrimination

The Numbers: 64% of survey respondents stated they had not witnessed or experienced discrimination at work while 36% said they had, per a survey from Blind. Cisco, eBay, and Intel had a higher number of respondents stating they witnessed or experienced discrimination. (39% – Cisco, 44% eBay, 39% Intel) Those with the lowest percentages were Google (31%), Uber (27%), and Facebook (22%).

Canadian Job Vacancy Highest Since 2004

The Numbers: Per the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the job vacancy rate in Canada increased to 3.1% (an estimated 397,400 jobs sat open for 4+ months), the highest since the statistic started being tracked in 2004. “Although the national vacancy rate continues to climb, most of the increase is being driven by Quebec. Rates in [British Columbia] and Ontario remain high but have eased off a little from the previous quarter,” said Ted Mallett, chief economist at the federation. “The difficulty businesses in those provinces face in meeting their staffing needs is really the headwind of a strong and growing economy.”

Apprenticeships Prepare Candidates More Than College

The Numbers: 62% of survey respondents from the American Staffing Association report feel that apprenticeships prepare people more than college for finding employment. 68% felt that ‘learning a specific trade is better for finding a job than a bachelor’s degree’.

Flexible Work Schedule Tops List of Benefits

The Numbers: A survey from Express Employment Professionals found that 18% of workers felt that a flexible work schedule was the most important ‘nonhealth benefit’. Generous/unlimited vacation time came in at 13%, work from home at 12%, and the option to take training/certification classes and a casual dress code were tied at 10%.

By |2018-08-10T15:08:50+00:00August 10th, 2018|Categories: Talent Acquisition Trends|Comments Off on By the Numbers: August 10, 2018

About the Author:

Erin Geiger is a seasoned Content, Editorial, and Product Engagement professional with two decades of experience creating content as well as overall content direction and strategy. Her background stems from a variety of online verticals ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations.