US Employment Machine Enjoys Positive 2006 Forecast

A news release from CareerBuilder.com said the fact that the US economy has kept growing despite a busy hurricane season and record high energy costs means the hiring machine should continue operating at a “sturdy” pace over the next 12 months. Fifty-four percent of hiring managers surveyed by CareerBuilder.com say they will increase their staff in the coming year while only 9% will trim staff.

In fact, twenty percent of hiring managers say they will recruit in bulk, expecting to add more than 50 new employees to their staff in 2006. One-in-ten will recruit more than 100 employees. Forty-three percent expect to add 10 employees or less. The majority of these hiring managers say most of their recruitment activity will take place during the first half of the year.

Customer service representative is the number one position for which hiring managers say they will be recruiting in 2006. Other popular positions include:

• sales
• retail
• information technology
• accounting/finance
• health care.

In terms of job level, 30% of hiring managers will be targeting professional/technical staff most aggressively while 19% will be targeting administrative/clerical workers, and 8% will be targeting upper management, the CareerBuilder announcement said.

Forty-seven percent of hiring managers will be recruiting temporary workers in 2006, with one-in-five bringing on more than 10 temporary employees.

HRO

Fifteen percent of hiring managers report their companies outsourced some functions outside of the US in 2005. Looking forward, 14% say they are likely to outsource functions overseas in 2006, and 9% say they will recruit candidates from overseas to work in the US

Although solid hiring is expected across all regions, employers in the South and West are slightly more optimistic about their recruitment plans for 2006. Fifty-five percent of hiring managers in these regions expect to increase headcount followed by 53% in the Midwest and 50% in the Northeast.

According to the announcement, other results included that nearly three-in-ten workers still say they plan to look for new opportunities in 2006, and 41% plan to leave the companies by the end of 2007. Fifty-eight percent of workers say they received a raise in 2005. Thirty-one percent received a pay increase of 3% or less, while 21% received an increase of 5 % or more. One-in-ten workers report they were awarded a promotion in 2005. Twenty-seven feel they were overlooked for a promotion.

Workers continue to be upset by their pay level. Forty-seven percent of workers say they are dissatisfied with their current compensation levels considering the effort put forth in their jobs, similar to last year’s sentiment. Sixty-one percent of workers say their workloads have increased over the last six months, contributing to increased stress levels and dissatisfaction with work/life balance. Thirty-one percent of workers say they are struggling to balance both professional and personal commitments.

The new CareerBuilder.com survey, 2006 Job Forecast, was conducted from November 15 to December 6, 2005 of more than 2,050 workers. The Web Panel members were approached via an e-mail invitation, which asked them to participate in a short online survey. The sample ncluded 1,000 hiring managers.