Posted Jobs Declines 11%, Healthcare and IT Continue to Rise
As I posted last week, the number of jobs posted online declined in June. This week, Beyond.com is reporting second quarter posted jobs declined by 11%. It’s not all bad news however as Healthcare and IT posted jobs continue to rise.
The industries most affected continue to be Business, which was down 3.41%. Accounting and Finance dipped .91% and Engineering & Architecture slid .21%. On the flip side IT posted jobs grew by 1.13% and Healthcare related jobs grew by .52%. Healthcare continues to be the field to be in as posted jobs have increased by 2.15% over the last 12 months; the fastest growing of all industries. So where do things go from here? Here’s what Beyond.com’s CEO expects.
“While many industries are experiencing a decline, the healthcare industry has continued to grow to keep up with the rising demand for in-home services, nurses and other healthcare workers as a result of the aging population,” says Rich Milgram CEO of Beyond.com, Inc. “To recruit top talent in this tight labor market, many healthcare employers are offering generous salaries, signing bonuses, continuing education credits and flexible work schedules to attract and retain workers in this growing industry.”
As always I’ll keep you updated on the latest in the employment arena.
Until next time…
Job Hunting While Still Employed? Duh, Everyone’s Doing It
When we talk about job hunting, I’ve always just assumed that most people search for their next job, while they are still in their current one. Dad always said ‘never quit a job until you have another one lined up’ and that advice has always proved to be right on.
So when Accountemps released their survey results where respondents where asked “How comfortable would you feed searching for a new job while still employed”, I was somewhat surprised at the results.
Their responses:
Very comfortable …………….. 38%
Somewhat comfortable …………. 37%
Somewhat uncomfortable ……….. 21%
Very uncomfortable …………… 3%
Don’t know ………………….. 1%
When I say surprised, I mean surprised that more of them didn’t fall into the ‘Very Comfortable’ category. Let’s be honest, while it’s always nice to say ‘I’m leaving my job to take some time off and explore my options’, most of us don’t always have the cash on hand to take months off. Not to mention the loss of health and other benefits. Anyone seen the price of COBRA coverage? Granted some of the respondents were executives, so perhaps that skewed the results a bit. But I’m curious, how would you feel about job hunting while currently employed? As for me, I wouldn’t do it any other way.
Until next time…
Are You on Twitter? How about your Company?
I hear about Twitter every once in a while. I know a few people that use it, but not enough to get me to jump in and try it. Evidently I’m behind the times as even large corporations are jumping on the Twitter bandwagon. If you’re not familiar with Twitter, it’s a social networking tool that allows users to send short messages in response to Twitters question; what are you doing? The key is to send your response in under 140 characters. Why would corporate America care about Tweeting or social networking? It seems Twitter may be the answer for organizations dedicated to customer service. Yes, there are still a few companies that care about good customer service.
ABC news did a great piece on Twitter and Comcast last night. They profiled Tracy Lee Wallace, a single mother who also runs her business from home. When she got up one morning to find her phone and iternet all out, you can imagine how unhappy she was. After spending over an hour on the phone with Comcast she learned that it would be over 24 hours until her service could be fixed. In other words her business was dead in the water. A frustrated Wallace then used her Blackberry to Twitter her frustration, and was contacted by a Comcast representitive shortly thereafter. In the end she had her service restored later that same day all thanks to Comcasts internet team. If only their phone reps were this good.
It’s easy to write off social networking as toy for Gen Y, but as Comcast and other companies such as Southwest Airlines and Federal Express have learned they may just be the key to providing world class service. As for Tracy Lee Wallace, here’s her feelings on Comcast; “I am totally loyal to Comcast — they took care of me.” Enough said.
Until next time…
