Benefits September 14, 2007

Employers Find it Toughest to Attract Skilled Workers in IT and Supervisory Roles

September 13, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Employers are confident about employee retention this year, but hiring managers are finding it increasingly difficult to attract skilled workers, especially in the professional/technical positions, as well as supervisory roles, according to recent survey results.
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The 2007 Employment Dynamics and Growth Expectations (EDGE) Report from Robert Half International and CareerBuilder.com found that 90% of employerssaid it is equally or more difficult to find qualified candidatestoday compared to one year ago. Roughly the same number felt that the hiringenvironment will be equally or more challenging 12 months from now.

More than half of hiring managers say the primary recruiting obstacle remains a shortage of qualified workers.

The three positions that are most difficult to fill are sales, customer service and information technology (IT) roles, according to employers.

More than one-third (37%) of hiring managers said they anticipate increasing compensation levels for job offers in the next year.

Nearly a third of employers have implemented policies or programs to spur retention in the past year, with the most common tactics being bonuses (23%), salary hikes (16%) and a better office environment (15%).

Eight out of 10 hiring managers said their attrition rate has remained the same or decreased compared to last year.

Fifty-five percent of employees said they have received salary increases over the last 12 months, up from 45% in the 2006 survey; however, employees said that in terms of perks flexible work arrangements (65%), employee stock purchase plans (33%) and telecommuting (33%) opportunities are the most attractive.

More than half (58%) of workers are more likely to negotiate better compensation with a new employer now versus 12 months ago, double the percentage from last year.

For the full survey results go here .

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