Five employment-related surveys released over the past four weeks paint a landscape of positive, but slower growing, jobs prospects through the remainder of 2007.
Manpower Employment Outlook Survey
This survey of 14,000 U.S. employers reveals that companies have conservative hiring plans in the fourth quarter. Three times as many employers expect to increase their workforces than trim their payrolls, a decrease from previous quarters.
CEO Economic Outlook Survey
A survey of more than 100 corporate executives reveals that "CEOs see a modest decline in economic conditions in the coming months." The CEOs in this survey represent companies that employ more than 10 million workers. "The latest results continue a pattern of gradual decline in expectations since the beginning of the year," the survey concludes.
Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series
This monthly measure of online job posting activity reveals that the rate of growth in job posting has slowed in areas like the Northeast where online job advertising has been popular for some time. Still, New England continues to offer one of the highest ads rates in the country (3.65 ads per 100 persons in the regional labor force). Technology continues to be one of the top occupations with the most online ads posted.
Q4 2007 Job Forecast
CareerBuilder.com released its quarterly survey that projects "cautious, but steady" hiring. More than four times as many employers expect to grow their workforce than trim their workforce over the next three months. The information technology industry expects to hire more workers than in most other sectors.
Hudson Employment Index
This index of the workforce's overall confidence in the employment market presented the most cautionary outlook. The national index dropped for the second month in a row indicating that workers are concerned about future job prospects. The Boston Index also dropped on a decrease in hiring expectations. However, the industry-specific IT Workers Index reveals that IT workers are the happiest they've been two years!
Conclusion
Technology workers remain in demand; however, jobs are expected to be harder to come by over the next three months. Each worker must remain vigilant about expanding his/her personal marketplace by focusing on both of the following:
- upgrading your skills
- expanding your network of contacts
Remember:
It's not what you know.
It's not who your know.
It's how well you network what you know with who you know.
