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Job Market Trends for 2006 |
Although the employment boom of the 1990’s is not predicted to be coming back in the nearest future, the forecast for the future years' job market is generally promising for employees. Most major industries are expecting employment growth in the current year, as well as future years.
Do you know what the growing job market means for you as an employee? Oh, yeah! Major salary negotiations! It’s a simple supply-demand principle. When demand for employees increases, they have to be lured by incentives. Many managers are planning on increasing salaries on initial job offers, which will keep them competitive.
Employee retention will be a major challenge for employers since 65% of employees are considering looking for another job, based on a survey. More managers will be coming up with incentives to motivate and reward employees. Such incentives might be bonuses and/or educational advancement programs and tuition reimbursements.
A new coming trend is re-hiring retirees or offer incentives for Baby Boomers, who are planning on retiring, to stay in the market. The trend is due to concern over shortage of experienced workers, plus, older workers are more stable and less likely than younger workers to job hunt elsewhere.
Flexible work schedule trend is continuing into 2006, with almost half of the hiring managers being willing to provide such arrangement for their employees.
Current technology is making telecommuting (working from home) possible. This might be something to consider when looking for a job, in correlation to saving on high gas prices and travel time.
Some companies are planning on cutting back or eliminating some executive pay programs and perks. This could mean more finances to fall into regular workers’ pockets.
Jobs in the following professions are predicted to be in high demand for 2006:
• Ethics and corporate governance
• Data security and technology security
• Transportation and warehousing
• Home repair, hardware, fixtures
• Accounting, health care, and biotechnology are continuing strong trend.
America is expected to create 19 million new jobs by 2014, according to US Bureau of Statistics.
The fastest-growing professions that are expected to be in high demand in the future years:
• Technology specialists
• Teachers (especially post-secondary teachers)
• Engineers
• Health care (RN’s, nursing aid, home health aide, elderly attendant)
• Restaurant business (cooks, waiters, combination of food preparation and servicing worker)
• Janitors, customer service representatives, and other service workers
• Management, business, and financial occupations
Industries that are expected to shrink:
• Farming, fishing, forestry
• Production (such as metalworking, heavy industry, textiles)
Not all job related trends are “positive”. There are some Downsides in the job market Expected:
Less and less companies will offer stock options to their employees. It is due to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) regulations, which now require companies to expense stock options.
More managers will be hiring temporarily workers. Temporary workers do not usually receive benefits such as health insurance, stock options, employer contribution to the 401K plan, bonuses, and other perks. Also, temporary employees are less likely to sue for wrongful termination.
Off-shoring and outsourcing into lower-cost countries, such as China and India, will continue. This is a dangerous trend for American workers since they cannot compete for salaries with people from less developed countries, who have much lower cost of living. Mostly manufacturing and service jobs are at stake.
What you need to know if you are currently job-hunting:
Most managers are expecting to do major hiring within the first half of the year, so if you are planning on finding a new job, you better act urgently. Due to competition, most hiring managers shortened their recruitment process from six to just four weeks.
Many employers scan resumes and cover letters for relevant keywords, so make sure to put lots of keywords relevant to your industry and position in search.
If you are currently job hunting, we wish you Good Luck!
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Job Market Trends for 2006
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