October’s job report saw a gain of 261,000 nonfarm jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly employment report. Employment gains happened in health care, professional and technical services, and manufacturing.

October’s unemployment rate was 3.7%, increasing from 3.5% in September. The civilian labor force participation rate is at 62.2%, little changed from 62.3% in September.

The report found that average hourly earnings for employees on private, nonfarm payrolls was $32.58. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 4.7%.

 

 

Nearly a third of workers report decreased job engagement — the commitment and connection they feel to their work — but the shift to remote work spurred by the pandemic may not be the cause, according to a survey from The Conference Board.

The survey found that work location — on-site, remote or a hybrid blend of the two — has no impact on self-reported engagement levels.

However, some people feel decreased engagement more than others. Women, millennials and individual contributors report lower engagement than men, older generations and executives.

In September, The Conference Board survey polled more than 1,600 individuals and found that respondents weighed in on workplace culture, work location, compensation and benefits.

“Many workers have reevaluated their priorities since the beginning of 2020 at the outset of Covid,” said Robin Erickson, Ph.D., VP of human capital at The Conference Board. “Employees are not only demanding to retain the flexibility they gained from being required to work remotely, but they expect genuine and transparent communications to continue from their leaders as well.”

But even with lower levels of self-reported engagement, 82% say their level of effort remains the same or higher.

According to The Conference Board, more workers want to quit, but few have plans of actually doing so. Workers’ intent to stay at their jobs decreased by 37% in the last six months, but only 12% are actively planning to leave. Meanwhile, about 29% of workers are reconsidering their plans to quit due to the imminent recession.

“While these results show that a likely recession may slow some of the high turnovers we’ve been seeing, engagement is eroding for many of those who remain,” said Rebecca Ray, Ph.D., executive vice president of human capital at The Conference Board. “For businesses to truly thrive, they should focus on improving employee engagement, no matter the employee’s work location or schedule.”

Source: Staffing Industry Analysts

September’s job report saw a gain of 263,000 nonfarm jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly employment report. Employment gains happened in leisure, hospitality and health care.

September’s unemployment rate was 3.5%, decreasing from 3.7% in August. The civilian labor force participation rate is at 62.3%, little changed from 62.4% in August.

The report found that average hourly earnings for employees on private, nonfarm payrolls was $32.46. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 5.0%.

 

 

More than a third of human resources professionals, 36%, say “quiet quitting” is happening in their organizations, according to a poll by the Society for Human Resource Management. While only some are seeing it, 51% of HR pros are concerned about it.

Quiet quitting has become a buzzword, referring to employees only doing what is necessary for the jobs and not going above and beyond.

Of HR professionals who say their organization is experiencing quiet quitting, 60% report their organization’s culture enables this behavior. Qualitative data from the survey point to issues such as lack of engagement, communication difficulties or poor management of people. Remote and hybrid work was also cited as a concern because of poor supervisor support and lack of accountability.

“With a slowing economy, employers can’t afford to have employees loudly or quietly quit,” said Johnny Taylor, Jr., president and CEO of SHRM. “Organizations must ensure they have strong, healthy cultures that are communicated clearly to their employees. Employees who are culturally aligned will thrive; those who aren’t happy with their organization’s culture and way of work should find more ideal employment.”

Other findings:

• Of HR professionals concerned that quiet quitting will negatively impact their organization, many believe it will decrease employee morale in the workplace (83%), decrease employee productivity (70%) or decrease the quality of employee work products (50%).
• Of HR professionals who report their organization is experiencing quiet quitting, 72% say they are witnessing millennial employees (those 26-41 years old) quiet quitting within their organization.
• 43% of HR professionals agree that employee productivity is a big concern at their organization right now.

SHRM’s survey included 1,234 HR professionals and took place from Aug. 25 to Aug. 30.

US salaries are going up, but compensation budgets for next year and salary projections are expected to lag inflation, according to the “2023 US Compensation Planning Survey” released by Mercer.

Employers are budgeting an average of 3.8% for merit increases — compared to the 3.4% actually delivered this year — and 4.2% for their total budget increase for 2023.

Mercer noted that total base salary increase budget also includes other base pay increases, such as promotions and cost-of-living adjustments, in addition to merit increases.

The labor shortage was reported as the top driver for increases in compensation budgets for employers, and Mercer said this aligns with long-standing practices focused on paying based on demand for labor, not inflation or cost of living. However, the disconnect in compensation budgets and rising inflation appears to be creating frustration with workers, who have seen all of their wage gains eroded by rising costs. This will continue to drive dissatisfaction with compensation programs and pressure employers to increase wages in the months ahead, according to Mercer.

The study also found employers’ primary response to inflation is providing ad-hoc, off-cycle wage reviews and/or adjustments (reported by 38% of employers).

In addition, Mercer reported only 10% of US organizations say recessionary concerns are currently having a high impact on their budgets for salary increases. Still, should the economic situation continue to decline, that may change. The survey found no employers currently plan to freeze pay in 2023.

Another finding: Employers have been slow to modify their communication of pay ranges outside of state mandates. More than half of organizations, 53%, said they will comply with local laws and have no plans to broaden transparency beyond what is required. As it stands today, 44% of organizations do not communicate any information regarding an employee’s current compensation grade or band, and only 21% of employers make available compensation bands for all jobs outside the employee’s current role.

The survey includes data from more than 1,200 companies in the US across 15 industries.

Source: Staffing Industry Analysts

August’s job report saw a gain of 315,000 nonfarm jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly employment report. Employment gains happened in professional and business services, retail trade and healthcare.

August’s unemployment rate was 3.7%, increasing from 3.5% in July. The civilian labor force participation rate is at 62.4%, increasing from 62.1% in July.

The report found that average hourly earnings for employees on private, nonfarm payrolls was $32.36. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 5.2%.

 

 

From increasing flexibility to sign-on bonuses, employers are using several strategies to attract and retain employees, according to the “WTW 2022 Mid-year Compensation Survey.”

To help attract and retain workers, WTW found that employers are:

• Hiring employees at the higher end of salary ranges - 86%
• Increasing flexibility in where employees work and how they work - 84%
• Offering sign-on bonuses to attract talent - 81%
• Using retention bonuses to keep employees - 65%
• Increasing training opportunities - 55%

The WTW survey also found employers are revising their salary budgets in order to hire and keep workers. Respondents said they are planning or considering:

• Boosting their current salary budgets - 44%; 23% already have done so
• Adjusting salary budgets throughout the year on an as-needed basis - 46%; 22% already have
• Making more frequent salary adjustments throughout the year; 7% already have
• Adjusting salary ranges more aggressively - 46%; 18% already have

Source: Staffing Industry Analysts

The US manufacturing sector continued to grow in July but at a slower rate than June and at the slowest pace since June 2020, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s “July Manufacturing PMI” report.

“Panelists are now expressing concern about a softening in the economy, as new order rates contracted for the second month amid developing anxiety about excess inventory in the supply chain,” said Timothy Fiore, chair of the ISM’s Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

In July, the Manufacturing PMI was at 52.8%; in comparison, the reading was 52.4% in June 2020. Readings above 50% indicate expansion.

The employment index portion of the PMI shrunk for the third month in a row. Its reading for July was 49.9%, an improvement from June’s reading of 47.3%, but still indicating contraction.

However, companies taking part in the report indicated they are continuing to hire at strong rates, Fiore said. In addition, there were few indications of layoffs, hiring freezes or headcount reduction through attrition. However, there were reports of higher rates of quits.

“Although an overwhelming majority of survey panelists again indicate their companies are hiring, they are still struggling to meet labor management plans. Improvement signs are mixed,” he said.

Source: Staffing Industry Analysts

July’s job report saw a gain of 528,000 nonfarm jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly employment report. Employment gains happened in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, and healthcare. Both total nonfarm employment and the unemployment rate have returned to their February 2020 pre-pandemic levels.

July’s unemployment rate was 3.6% down slightly from 3.6% in June. The civilian labor force participation rate is at 62.1%, little changed from 62.2% in June.

The report found that average hourly earnings for employees on private, nonfarm payrolls was $32.27. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 5.2%.

 

 

The Fed is happy to see strong payroll gains and moderating wage growth in the June jobs report. Payroll gains of 372,000 and the unemployment rate remaining at 3.6% is simply a great jobs report. But the cherry on top is that nominal earnings are leveling off, easing fears of a wage-price spiral as inflation is at a 40-year high.

Here are some additional takeaways from the June jobs report:

Recouping COVID job losses within “spitting distance”
Every private industry gained jobs in June
Shift from goods to services may be materializing in jobs
Job seeker participation took a step back
No signs of a wage-price spiral as wage growth continues to cool

What does this mean for recruiters? 

There is no sign of a recession in the June jobs report. Strong hiring trends conflict with other indicators (like the stock market and GDP) that suggest elevated recession risks. The intensity of competition for workers remains strong, even as interest rate hikes continue at a brisk pace. The continued cooling of wage growth is a favorable sign that the Fed’s goal of lowering inflation without triggering a recession is possible. 

Bottom line: Aside from the decline in labor force participation – which may just be noise – this is a very strong jobs report. Hiring trends are very strong in the United States, even during a period where the Fed is aggressively hiking interest rates.

Read the full article at https://bit.ly/3B4P6SP

Source: Recruitonomics

US manufacturing activity continued growing in June, but its rate of growth slowed, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing PMI. It fell to a reading of 53.0% in June from 56.1% in May. It’s the lowest Manufacturing PMI reading since June 2020.

“The US manufacturing sector continues to be powered — though less so in June — by demand while held back by supply chain constraints,” said Timothy Fiore, chair of the ISM’s Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

Manufacturing PMI readings above 50% indicate the manufacturing economy is expanding.

Fiore also said manufacturers made progress on addressing moderate-term labor shortages. And firms taking part in the report’s survey noted lower rates of quits compared to May.

Still, the employment index fell to a reading of 47.3% in June from 49.6% in May, both readings indicate contraction.

“The [employment index] contracted for a second straight month after an eight-month period of expansion,” Fiore said. “This is the lowest reading since August 2020, when the index registered 47.1%.”

However, he noted 14% of survey respondents noted greater hiring ease in June compared to 7% in May. In addition, a majority of panelists say their companies are continuing to hire. 

Data for the Manufacturing PMI report is taken from a survey of manufacturing supply executives.

Source: Staffing Industry Analysts

June’s job report saw a gain of 372,000 nonfarm jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly employment report. Employment gains happened in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, and healthcare.

June’s unemployment rate remained at 3.6%, unchanged from May. The civilian labor force participation rate is at 62.2%, little changed from 62.3% in May.

The report found that average hourly earnings for employees on private, nonfarm payrolls was $32.08. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 5.1%.

 

 

Experts at McKinsey Global Institute have said that modern data-driven organizations are 23 times more likely to attract new customers than those who are getting by without doing so. How can you turn all those mammoth amounts of rough data into actionable insights and create a strong basis for decision-making? An equally good data-driven company culture could be the way to go.

Business leaders and executives have exploding quantities of information nearly at their fingertips that can drive future-ready data-based innovation—better customer satisfaction, refined action plans and streamlined operations. Yet, with the more than two-thirds of amassed data that remains unused each year, such ambitious targets are just elusive for most companies, meaning there is no such thing as a lack of data. Instead, there is a need to create a company culture that encourages new initiatives, practices and habits to root decisions in data across the company.

Benefits Of Data-Driven Decision-Making For Your Business

• Sustainable Improvement: It gives a spur to continuous improvements across the organizations as it becomes much easier to implement best practices and courses or actions with controllable outcomes based on past results.

• Faster Decisions: This optimizes the average time spent making up objective solutions and highly accurate expectations. Besides, when used right, data can make experiments less risky, in line with giving better chances for earlier success.

• Greater Transparency: Data-driven decision-making contributes to faster and, more importantly, fully-visible and trackable approval processes by team members, in turn supporting high levels of compliance and accountability.

• Unabridged Market Research: Data helps generate actionable market insight based on real facts and proven statistics. By eliminating guesswork and uncertainty, it becomes a good companion to comprehensive market research and winning business initiatives that could be unavailable so far.

• Optimized Spend: The money-saving potential of data-driven decisions should never be underestimated, as it can quickly elevate operational efficiency, in line with providing a solid background for cost-effective strategies and sustaining the best of them in the long haul.

• Organizational Consistency: This helps every member deeply understand in what way it’s better to root data in decisions, highlighting best practices and actionable scenarios that could be unified and popularized across different areas of operation and departments. Eventually, getting in the habit of making decisions in a data-led way can greatly improve the consistency of service and engagement in the company.

The core obstacle to making the business decisions truly data-driven is not technical. The issues are cultural by nature, as there is no problem with bringing data and technology into a process of decision-making when we have to. Making this course normal, running nearly on autopilot, for employees—it’s a shift in mindset. And it’s a challenge that every modern company is facing

Read the full article at https://bit.ly/3Ng9W40

Source: Forbes

Prices are rising – fast. After nearly three decades of stable prices, the US economy is experiencing a surge of inflation. Consumers feel the pain acutely at the gas pump, grocery store, and elsewhere. But inflation isn’t just shaping individuals’ buying habits. Businesses – and, specifically, employers looking to hire – have to reckon with this high-inflation environment. Recruiters face two new challenges: rising wage expectations of job seekers and online job advertising costs that have spiked after declining for a decade.

Recruiting Challenge #1: Job Seekers Want Higher Pay

An uptick in work pay coincided with this inflation surge. The labor market is extremely “tight” – with job openings at near record highs and jobs being added at a rapid pace – and so employers are raising wages to attract job seekers. Average hourly earnings were up over 11% for all employees in March 2022 compared to February 2020, just when the pandemic recession began. Wages are even higher for “rank-and-file” workers (production and nonsupervisory employees): up 12.6% over the period.

Recruiting Challenge #2: Online Job Advertising Rose After Declining for a Decade

It’s not just consumers who are facing higher costs but businesses too. We see this in the data from the Producer Price Index (PPI) that reflects the input costs that businesses face. In March, prices were up 11.2% year-over-year, “the largest increase since 12-month data were first calculated in November 2010,” according to the BLS release.

A subcomponent of the PPI tracks what businesses pay for online advertising – whether it be on Google, Facebook, or job sites like Indeed. This metric for online advertising had been falling for the better part of a decade but 2021 marked a reversal of this trend. Costs began to surge in the spring of 2021 in a way they never had before. In June, online ad prices were up 26.2% from a year before.

With high inflation, employers looking to hire need to adjust on these two fronts by benchmarking pay more regularly, at least quarterly if not monthly, and adjusting recruitment budget forecasts to reflect higher costs for job ads.

Read the full article at https://bit.ly/3NSwUz9

Source: Recruitonomics

May’s job report saw a gain of 390,000 nonfarm jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly employment report. Employment gains happened in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, and in transportation and warehousing.

May’s unemployment rate remained at 3.6%, unchanged from April. The civilian labor force participation rate is at 62.3%, little changed from 62.2% in April.

The report found that average hourly earnings for employees on private, nonfarm payrolls was $31.95. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 5.2%.

 

 

April’s job report saw a gain of 428,000 nonfarm jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly employment report. Employment gains happened in leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing.

April’s unemployment rate remained at 3.6%, unchanged from March. The civilian labor force participation rate is at 62.2%, little changed from 62.4% in March.

The report found that average hourly earnings for employees on private, nonfarm payrolls was $31.85. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 5.5%.

 

 

March’s job report saw a gain of 431,000 nonfarm jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly employment report. Employment gains happened in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail trade and manufacturing. 

March’s unemployment rate decreased to 3.6%, down from 3.8% in February. The civilian labor force participation rate is at 62.4%, little changed from 62.3% in February. 

The report found that average hourly earnings for employees on private, nonfarm payrolls was $31.73. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 5.6%.

 

 

More than half of US workers, 53%, are open to leaving their employers, according to a survey by WTW (Willis Towers Watson). It also found that 44% said they actively looked for a new job during the fourth quarter of 2021 or were planning to seek new employment in the first quarter of this year.

The survey included 9,658 US employees and took place between December 2021 and January 2022.

“The findings suggest that employees continue to job hunt at the same pace as last year and that the labor exodus is not yet over,” said Steve Nyce, senior economist, WTW.

“Employers remain under pressure as many workers seek enhanced rewards, more job security and different experiences,” Nyce said. “In many cases, employers are responding by boosting pay, enhancing health and retirement benefits, and offering more flexibility to not only find workers but also keep the ones they have from looking elsewhere.”

More than half of respondents, 56%, cited pay as a top reason they would look for a new job, according to WTW. The survey found 41% would leave for a 5% increase, and one in five employees would take a new job for the same pay.

Other important factors cited by employees as reasons for accepting a position elsewhere include health benefits, 39%; job security, 33%; and flexible work arrangements, 31%.

The survey also found that 58% of employees want to work remotely either most of the time or in a hybrid work arrangement.

Source: Staffing Industry Analysts 

A survey found that 60% of light industrial businesses struggled to keep up with increased demand in 2021, and staff retention was a big hurdle amid the ongoing labor shortage. The survey was released by Instawork, a flexible work app for local and hourly professionals, in partnership with Logistics Management magazine.

Thirty-one percent of survey respondents reported having to forego business in 2021 due to lack of workers and 39% said they are focused on hiring new staff, while 72% increased pay as part of staff retention efforts. The average raise was $2.54 per hour for most light industrial hourly full-time staff.

Looking ahead, fewer than 50% of surveyed companies are investing in flexible scheduling and career development, despite those being top requests from workers.

Additionally, 18% of respondents are currently leveraging technology to address their ongoing staffing needs, which provides increased opportunities to improve operational efficiencies and attract and retain top talent.

“We regularly hear from the hourly workforce about the critical need for work flexibility, higher pay and opportunities for career growth,” said Kira Caban, head of strategic communications at Instawork. “Addressing these needs will be critical for the industry to attract and retain the staffing necessary to stay on top of record levels of customer demand.”

Source: Staffing Industry Analysts 

February’s job report saw a gain of 678,000 nonfarm jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly employment report. Employment gains happened in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, healthcare and construction. 

February’s unemployment rate decreased to 3.8%, down from 4.0% in January. The civilian labor force participation rate is at 62.3%, little changed from 62.2% in January. 

The report found that average hourly earnings for employees on private, nonfarm payrolls was $31.58. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 5.1%.