BLS Analysis for Recruiters September 2020 – 4 Articles

Bob Marshall’s September 2020 BLS Analysis for Recruiters; 10/2/20

The 4 September Articles…

Start here…

More Than Half of US Firms Plan to Raise Wages in Q4

Daily News, September 23, 2020

Just more than half, 52%, of US hiring decision-makers expect wages to increase in the fourth quarter compared to 2019, according to survey results released by Express Employment Professionals.

In comparison to pre-pandemic levels, Express cited a separate survey by PayScale that took place between November 2019 and January.  It found that 85% planned to give base-pay increases.

In Express’ survey, 53% of respondents who are giving pay increases plan to base them on performance, 51% plan to base them on standard cost of living and 36% say the increases will be based on market rates.

The company noted demand for labor, particularly in manufacturing, is driving pay rate increases and retention bonuses particularly in manufacturing.

Looking at benefits, the survey found that 33% of US hiring decision-makers expect their companies’ benefits to increase, 53% expect benefits to hold consistent and 10% expect benefits to decrease.

“Even when money is tight, employees need to know their efforts are appreciated,” Express CEO Bill Stoller said.  “In this unique time, being flexible with schedules and offering other nontraditional benefits in addition to a healthy company culture goes a long way.”

The Express survey included 1,005 US hiring decision-makers.

Cybersecurity is Most In-Demand Skill, Harvey Nash and KPMG Report

Daily News, September 22, 2020

Cybersecurity is the most in-demand skill, and firms are seeing more cyberattacks amid Covid-19 as more employees are now working from home, according to an annual survey of chief information officers around the globe by staffing provider Harvey Nash and KPMG.

In the survey, 41% of IT leaders reported their companies have experienced more cyberattacks.  The move to working from home appears to have increased exposure from employees.  However, “it is worth noting that this figure could be much higher if all employees were admitting to or even recognized every breach, and technology leaders were not just self-reporting,” according to the report.

Areas where cyberattacks have increased as a result of Covid-19 include spear phishing, cited by 83% of firms, and malware, cited by 62%.

With cybersecurity the most in-demand skill, it is the first time a security-related skill has topped the list of global technology skills shortages for more than a decade.

47% of firms said security and privacy are a top investment.

Overall, the report noted that the IT skills shortage remains close to an all-time high with demand robust, especially for traditional in-house roles.  The report said only 24% of respondents are using more flexible labor as a result of the crisis.

Another finding:  8 out of 10 IT leaders are concerned about the mental health of their teams during Covid-19.

The report’s survey included more than 4,200 IT leaders around the world.

IT Adds Jobs for First Time in 10 Months, ‘Turns Corner’ But Still Volatile

Daily News, September 10, 2020’

Technology jobs in the US rose in August for the first time in 10 months, according to the TechServe Alliance, the national trade association of the IT and engineering staffing and solutions industry.

The number of technology jobs in the US rose 0.40% in August from July to 5,133,600 jobs.

However, IT employment fell by 4.12% year over year in August, representing a loss of 220,400 IT workers on a net basis,

“After declining for 10 consecutive months, IT employment posted strong growth in August, turning up by 0.40%,” said TechServe Alliance CEO Mark Roberts.  “After a brutal Spring with two month-over-month declines of more than 1%, it appears we have turned a corner.”

While good news — and IT continues to be more resilient than other sectors — the data do not necessarily indicate it will be “clear sailing” ahead, according to Roberts.

“Given we are still being impacted by the pandemic, we don’t yet have an effective vaccine, and broad swaths of the economy are still reeling, I expect we will continue to see volatility in employment numbers for the foreseeable future,” he said.

Engineering employment also increased in August from July, rising 0.56%, or 14,300 jobs, the organization reported; however, it decreased by 3.36% year over year in August, representing 89,200 engineering workers.

US Employers Foresee Improved Hiring in Q4, But Still Long Way to Go: ManpowerGroup Survey

Daily News, September 8, 2020

US employers reported improved hiring plans for the fourth quarter, according to ManpowerGroup Inc.’s fourth-quarter Employment Outlook Survey of more than 8,700 US employers conducted in July.

“Though we still have a long way to go to recover from what started as a health crisis and has evolved to a social and economic crisis, it is encouraging to see optimistic outlooks in some of the industry’s most heavily impacted including leisure, retail and manufacturing,” Becky Frankiewicz, president of ManpowerGroup North America, said in a statement.

The survey asked companies how they anticipate total employment to change in the three months to the end of December compared to the current quarter.

It found 20% of firms planned to increase staff, 8% planned a decrease, 67% anticipated no change and 5% didn’t know.

The responses resulted in a “net employment outlook” of 12%, or 14% when adjusted for seasonality.

That 14% outlook is much improved from the 3% reported in the third quarter — although it’s still below the 19% in the second quarter.

The strongest hiring in the fourth quarter is anticipated in “leisure and hospitality” and “transportation and utilities,” with seasonally adjusted net employment outlooks of 22% and 19% respectively.

While ManpowerGroup surveyed 8,700 US employers, it also conducted the survey globally.  In all, 38,000 employers in 43 countries participated.

In Canada, the seasonally adjusted net employment outlook improved to 6% in the latest report from -9% in the previous quarter.  In Mexico, the seasonally adjusted net employment outlook rose to 1% from -9% in the third-quarter report.