BY DHIANNA YEZZI
As 2016 rolls in, it’s a time to take stock and
review the labor market, jobs and where the employment
trends will be focused. We continue to
see slow growth with an average of 100,000 jobs
created monthly.
The great news: It’s a strong job market. The
strongest in at least a decade. The Labor Department
predicts that all job losses from the Great
Recession will be fully recovered by 2020 and
that the labor force will return to full employment
with a 4-5 percent unemployment rate.
This is coupled with an average wage increase of
at least 2.5-2.8 percent. Until this point, jobs have
increased but wages have remained stagnant.
Employees are finally reaping the benefits after
a largely employer based recovery.
The fastest growing jobs are still in IT, healthcare
and financial services. As baby boomers age
out of the job market, those skills that service and
aging demographic will continue to grow.
Of course, social media will continue to drive
recruitment, as the market tightens for qualified
candidates, firms will rely more on passive
recruitment through referral bonuses, Linked-In
and Facebook. The gig economy will play a bigger
role in employment, offset by the rise of freelancing
and more effective technology. In fact, by
2020, 40 percent of the employment population
will be in a gig role as evidenced by the over 1
million Uber drivers.
Other issues facing employment including
the influx of Generation Z graduates, the change
from a 40-hour work week to a more flexible
47-hour work week outside of regular hours
and with the rise of telecommuting, co-working
spaces, globalization and new technology tools,
an increased flexibility. Companies are also
getting ready for the next “baby boom” when
80 million millennials have children.
This is the time to find a new job or leverage
your current position and capitalize on the upcoming
labor shortage. Applicants and employees
are in the driver’s seat. Now is the time to Google
yourself, clean up your on-line presence and
develop your personal brand.
The so-so news: All this positive, albeit slow
employment growth was another sign of the
solid economy and fed the first Federal Reserve
interest rate rise in a decade. There is optimism
that tightening labor market conditions with a
jobless rate almost consistent with full employment,
and strong domestic demand will put some
pressure on wages.
However, the interest rate increase will make
borrowing more expensive and may limit investment
in the capital improvements that drive
hiring.
The bad news: There’s a trifecta of costs that
could severely limit the hiring at the all-important
small business level. The Affordable Care Act
employer mandate, the $15 per hour minimum
wage fight and a New York state regulatory environment
that is ranked 41 in the nation could
all profoundly affect job creation within small
businesses.
The take-away: For the first time in over a
decade, the employee is firmly driving the job
market, employment trends and hiring. As the
war for talent increase, companies must continue
to drive their brand and create a flexible
work environment that recruits talent while
retaining staff.