Employment prospects picking up

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PeopleAccording to CareerBuilder, job increases have been steady but incremental. Now it says that’s about to change – and the change will be good, with the overall employer hiring plans coming into synch with pre-recession levels.


Near term, 30% of all employers are looking to do some Q4 hiring, and 25% are planning to bring in Q4 seasonal help, led by 43% of retailers.

“After experiencing incremental improvements over the past few years, the U.S. labor market is nearing a tipping point,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. “The jobs outlook for Q4 is now more in line with pre-recession forecasts as employers cast a greater vote of confidence in both permanent and seasonal hiring. What’s also encouraging is that recruitment plans for small businesses with more than 50 employees are keeping pace with larger organizations. We’ll continue to see a spotlight on jobs and wages in the upcoming elections and beyond as we strive for an even stronger employment environment in 2015.”

Looking back at Q3, CareerBuilder observed, “There was a notable year-over-year gain in hiring in the third quarter. Thirty-four percent of employers added full-time, permanent headcount in Q3, up from 28 percent in the same period in 2013. Ten percent decreased headcount – a slight improvement over 11 percent last year – while 54 percent made no change to staff levels and 2 percent were unsure.”

Those companies making seasonal hires are expected to go along these lines:
Customer Service – 40 percent
Administrative/Clerical – 15 percent
Shipping/Delivery – 13 percent
Accounting/Finance – 12 percent
Inventory Management – 12 percent
Information Technology – 11 percent
Sales (non-retail) – 11 percent
Gift Wrapping – 10 percent
Marketing – 7 percent
Hosting/Greeting – 7 percent
Source: CareerBuilder

As for permanent hires, CareerBuilder broke levels down by region and company size.

Region:
33% South
31% West
27% Northeast
24% Midwest
Source: CareerBuilder

Company size:
36% 251-500 employees
35% 500+ employees
34% 51-250 employees
16% 50 or less employees
Source: CareerBuilder

RBR-TVBR observation: Few things inject life into an economy like citizens with new jobs and money to spend – you know, consumers!
So many good things when a citizen transitions from unemployment to a job. The consumption of public resources, like unemployment insurance and other things, goes away, taking with it drag on the economy.

In its place comes new spending, some of which may very well go toward relieving pent up demand for high ticket items, purchases that have been necessarily been off.

When spending grows, companies that have been sitting on inventory during slow times suddenly have to start manufacturing new items – and that means more hiring, and even more people with money to spend.

It’s the virtuous cycle, the opposite of the evil viscious cycle.

Could it be that the US is truly beginning to emerge from economic malaise and is ready to start putting some nice positive growth numbers up on the scoreboard?

Keep your fingers crossed! And do more than that – use this employment study in your pitches – if people have jobs and are prepared to spend, this is a fact that your clients will want to know so they can also cash in.