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CAREERBUILDER.COM’S ANNUAL JOB FORECAST REVEALS SLOWER, MORE CAUTIOUS HIRING EXPECTED IN NEW YEAR with flexible work arrangements, green jobs, diversity recruitment and rehiring retirees among trends for 2009.

“The job market of 2008 suffered as the U.S. economy weakened and entered into a recession,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder.com. “Looking ahead, recruitment levels are expected to be lower in the new year, but employers are not out of the mix completely; instead they’re taking ‘a wait and see’ approach to hiring. Fourteen percent of employers, surveyed by CareerBuilder.com, state they plan to increase full-time, permanent employees and 16 percent plan to decrease in 2009. The remainder of employers say they are unsure or don’t plan to make any changes to their headcount in the new year.” 

The job market of 2008 suffered as the U .S. economy moved into a recession. Job growth was in the negative (more than 1.9 million jobs lost*) for the first time in more than five years. Economists predict even higher unemployment rates and increased job loss numbers at least through the first half of the new year. Looking ahead to 2009, recruitment levels are expected to be lower, but employers are indicating that they are not out of the mix completely, but instead taking a “wait and see” approach to hiring, according to CareerBuilder.com’s annual job forecast.

More than half (56 percent) of the more than 3,200 hiring managers and human resource professionals in private sector companies surveyed said they have no plans to change full-time, permanent employees in 2009, while 13 percent are unsure of how their staffing plans will be impacted. Fourteen percent say they plan to add employees in the new year.

At the same time, employers continue to express concern with the shortage of skilled labor. One-in-five (19 percent) employers reported that the quality of job applicants they are receiving from recruitment efforts is lower than one year ago. Nearly three-in-ten (27 percent) said they currently have open positions for which they cannot find qualified candidates.

Employers’ cautious approach to hiring, as well as the continued challenge to find qualified workers, may affect the length of the average candidate’s job search. Job seekers can expect the job search process to last longer than in years past with three-in ten (29 percent) employers saying it takes them seven weeks or longer to fill open positions.

HIRING IN 2009

Full Time

Fourteen percent of employers plan to increase their numbers of full-time, permanent employees in 2009. This compares to 32 percent who anticipated increasing headcount in 2008. Sixteen percent plan to decrease staff levels in 2009, while 56 percent expect no change. Thirteen percent are unsure.

Part Time

Eight percent of employers plan to increase their number of part-time employees in 2009, down from 21 percent who expected to do so in 2008. Fourteen percent plan to decrease headcount in 2009, 62 percent expect no change and 15 percent are unsure.

Hiring By Region

Staff expansions are expected to be strongest in the South and West in 2009. Eighteen percent of employers in the South and 14 percent of employers in the West plan to add full-time, permanent employees compared to 13 percent in the Midwest and 11 percent in the Northeast. Employers in the Northeast are projecting one the largest amounts of staff decreases at 19 percent, followed by 17 percent in the Midwest, 16 percent in the West and 14 percent in the South.  

Hiring By Industry

Comparing select industries, job creation in Professional and Business Services and Information Technology is expected to carry into the new year. Twenty-eight percent of IT and 23 percent of Professional and Business Services employers plan to add full-time, permanent employees in 2009; this is followed by 20 percent of employers in Transportation and Utilities, 16 percent in Sales, 14 percent in Healthcare and 13 percent in Financial Services. Retail employers are also planning to expand staffs at 7 percent, followed by 5 percent of Hospitality employers.

Hring By Job Level

When asked which job level employers will be recruiting for the most in 2009, nearly half (49 percent) of employers pointed to professional and technical staff members while 14 percent cited administrative and clerical positions. Nearly one-in-ten (9 percent) will target management positions from team leaders and directors to vice presidents and C-level executives. Time to Hire Time to hire continues to be a challenge for employers as they compete for top performers for newly created positions and those left vacant by employee turnover. More than one-in-five employers (20 percent) report it typically takes them two months or longer to fill their open positions.

Time to Hire

Time to hire continues to be a challenge for employers as they compete for top performers for newly created positions and those left vacant by employee turnover. More than one-in-five employers (20 percent) report it typically takes them two months or longer to fill their open positions.

Flexible Work Arrangements

Companies plan to continue providing employees with greater flexibility in hopes of maintaining a better work/life balance. Close to one-third (31 percent) of employers say they plan to provide more flexible work arrangements in 2009. These arrangements include:

• Alternate schedules – come in early and leave early or come in later and leave later – 70 percent
• Telecommuting options – 48 percent
• Compressed workweeks – work the same hours, but in fewer days – 40 percent
• Summer hours – 19 percent
• Job sharing – 13 percent
• Sabbaticals – 7 percent 

 Green Jobs

Employers plan to become more environmentally aware in the new year. Thirteen percent of employers say they plan to add “green jobs” in 2009, compared to one-in-ten who say they added them in 2008. “Green Jobs” are positions that implement environmentally conscious design, policy and technology to improve conservation and sustainability.

Recruitment Tools

As recruitment budgets tighten, more employers are leveraging the Internet as a vehicle for finding potential employees. While nearly one quarter (23 percent) of employers say their recruitment budgets will decrease for 2009, 19 percent report they plan to spend more of their money looking for talent on online recruitment sites, followed closely by newspaper classifieds (15 percent). Twelve percent of employers also plan to allocate recruitment dollars to career fairs as well as staffing firms and recruiters followed by social networking sites (7 percent). One quarter (26 percent) of employers say they also plan to try “new media” sources (i.e. blogs) to find potential candidates. 

Retaining Retirees

One quarter of employers surveyed report concern over the loss of intellectual capital at their organizations as a large number of baby boomers approach retirement age. Nearly one-in-five employers (14 percent) say they are likely to rehire retirees from other companies in 2009. Another 10 percent are likely to provide incentives for workers at or approaching retirement age to stay on with the company longer. At the same time, workers have expressed interest in postponing retirement. Twenty-two percent of employers report they have received requests from workers approaching retirement age to stay on with their companies. 

Diversity Recruitment

When asked if there is a particular segment of diverse workers they plan to target more aggressively in 2009, employers pointed to Hispanic workers, women, African-American workers and mature workers. Nearly nine-in-ten (88 percent) employers report they will be placing the same or greater amount of emphasis on recruiting bilingual candidates in 2009. 

Freelance or Contract Hiring

As the nation waits for the economy to bounce back, employers are turning to freelance or contract workers to help support their businesses. Twenty-eight percent of employers anticipate hiring freelancers or contractors in 2009. Six percent expect to employ more freelance workers or contractors than last year, while 13 percent expect to hire the same amount and 8 percent plan to hire a lesser amount 

HIRING AND COMPENSATION IN Q1 OF 2009

Hiring

Seventeen percent of employers say they increased their headcount in the last three months. Twenty-two percent reduced headcounts, while 60 percent reported no change and 1 percent were undecided. In the first quarter of 2009, 16 percent of employers say they plan to add employees. Sixteen percent will decrease headcounts, while 62 percent anticipate no change and 6 percent are undecided.  

Compensation

With a large number of annual salary increases taking place in the first quarter, 56 percent of employers expect to raise compensation levels in the next three months. Forty-three percent estimate the average raise to amount to 3 percent or more, while 12 percent anticipate an average raise of 5 percent or more. 

JOB SATISFACTION

Employers’ efforts to improve recruitment and retention rates are reflected in more than half of workers stating that they are generally satisfied with their job overall. Still, nearly one-third of workers (32 percent) of more than 5,000 surveyed plan to change jobs within the next two years. Forty-seven percent are leaving their jobs to find a position with better pay and/or career advancement opportunities. 

Pay

Twenty-five percent of workers say they are dissatisfied with pay. Sixty-five percent of workers reported they received raises in 2008, and one-third received bonuses.  

Career Advancement

Twenty-six percent of workers say they are dissatisfied with career advancement opportunities offered by their current employers, on par with last year. 

Work/Life Balance

Eighteen percent of workers say they are dissatisfied with their work/life balance, an improvement from the same time last year (22 percent). 

When applying for new positions, workers say the most important attributes they look for when evaluating a potential employer are: 

• Stability and longevity in the market – 32 percent
• Good career advancement opportunities – 20 percent
• Good work culture – 14 percent
• Ability to offer flexible schedules – 12 percent

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive® on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 3,259 hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed fulltime; not self-employed; with at least significant involvement in hiring decisions; non government); and 8,038 U.S. employees (employed full-time; not self-employed; non government) ages 18 and over between November 12 and December 1, 2008 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset US Employers or Employees, based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 3,259 and 8,038 one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 1.72 percentage points and +/- 1.09 percentage points, respectively. Sampling error for data from 12 percent anticipate an average raise of 5 percent or more sub-samples is higher and varies.