Articles for employers.
Source: BLS June jobs report In June, the United States generated 288,000 new jobs, making it the fifth straight month in which we’ve seen job gains of 200,000+. The positive news continued as the unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage points — dropping from 6.3% to 6.1%, which is the lowest we’ve seen since September 2008. […] Read Article “June’s Jobs Report Shows Widespread Growth Across Industries”
I’ve led and been part of agile development teams for over a decade – and have been hiring developers for even longer. Through both types of experiences I’ve been able to apply agile development ideas to IT recruiting, interviewing and screening high quality tech candidates. And now, I’d like to pass that experience along. Let’s […] Read Article “Using Agile Programming Ideas in Your IT Recruiting”
Not only does it feel daunting for younger generations to find the right job, but those who are active in the workforce today are often disengaged or feel that they haven’t found the right job. The job market search relationship displays a challenging disconnect for both job seekers and employers, but focusing on what is […] Read Article “Why the Job Market Needs Optimization”
Source: June 2014 BLS report The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its June 2014 unemployment report, which showed an overall monthly gain of 288,000 jobs, considerably higher than the 215,000 economists were expecting. The unemployment rate also saw an impressive decline of 0.2 percentage points, dropping from 6.3% to 6.1%, which is the lowest we’ve seen […] Read Article “June BLS Report: 288,000 Jobs Added, Jobless Rate Drops 0.2%”
The demand for professionals with STEM backgrounds – meaning Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – is steadily rising. Currently, there are 1.4 vacant STEM jobs for every qualified STEM job-seeker. If this rate persists, by 2018 there will be a projected 1.7 million STEM jobs without qualified applicants to fill them. Filling this skills gap […] Read Article “STEM Skills Gap: Now is the Time to Act”
At the end of last year, we wrote a blog post about California raising its minimum wage from $8 an hour to $10 an hour, and discussed the pros and cons of raising minimum wage. This month, Seattle passed a bill that increases the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, the highest in the […] Read Article “Metropolitan Minimum Wage Increases Continue”
Talented employees are the leaders behind successful companies. To tap into your best employees and optimize their skill sets, employers need to strive for employee engagement consistently. When your top talent loses engagement or feels that their work is undervalued, they begin to seek out other opportunities. Here are three things you can do to […] Read Article “3 Ways to Reward and Engage Your Best Talent”
2014 has shown signs of particular growth – all of which results of key factors, including shifts in the economy and significant current events. The job market continues to hold strong in a few key industries: healthcare, finance, computer systems and information, and employment services. Although this list isn’t exhaustive, these industries will continue to […] Read Article “Five Rockstars of the Job Market”
Sources: Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment Report – April 2014, Regional and State Employment and Unemployment – April 2014 The national BLS “The Employment Situation — May 2014” report showed a surge in employment, adding 217,000 new jobs to the economy, the fourth straight month to show 200,000+ job gains. Economists are hopeful that this continual upswing will prove to […] Read Article “Metropolitan Employment Improving Across the Country”
It is very popular in today’s society to talk about the younger generations’ negative personality traits. I, as a member of these younger generations, always assumed this was just an unfair but not unusual tendency of older generations to complain about “what the world is coming to.” However, this belief that younger people are lacking […] Read Article “Is It Time to Update Your Workforce Readiness Program?”