This is something I prepared for our clients, and I thought you should have it, too. —
First off, thank you to everyone who submitted feedback about last month’s brief! I noted your interests. I’ve pivoted toward this being the briefest of briefs. Here are a few thoughts in the big picture of IT recruiting:
- National job report: In the lowest numbers since 2010, the US added 38,000 new non-farm jobs in May (compared to 215,000 in April). Why so low? About 36,000 Verizon employees are on strike which brought down the numbers. In last month’s brief I mentioned that the U.S. economy is considered to be at or near “full employment” (most people have jobs) and we are approaching that number fast.
- Staffing agencies provide crucial support when the demand outpaces the supply. “The fact that American employers across many sectors are still facing significant hiring and skills gap challenges. Businesses report they have close to six million open jobs they cannot fill,” in a statement from the American Staffing Association.
- What about the tech workforce? In the words of venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, “Software is eating the world.” For every one developer, there are six jobs (2016 Stack Overflow survey). They have choices. We’re actively building relationships with the workforce to make sure they choose our clients.
- Overtime rules are final as of May 18. The new reality impacts white collared workers in IT departments. Here’s our blog post to help managers like you be ready to go live December 1.
This year will present a number of changes at dizzying speed. We’re committed to our business community having all the tools and resources they need to stay ahead.