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As literacy levels rise with increased availability for expanded education, the number of professionals available to the world at large continues to grow. There is a proportional rise of entrepreneurial businesses that try to employ as much of these professionals as possible, without wasting any of the talents that are released into the world every day from training institutes everywhere. This effect has often resulted in numerous studies that are conducted to provide information to professionals on the way the market treats the employer and the employee, as well as the reception of individual professionals in regards to salary expectations and employment opportunities.
The Job Market
In April 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that the total number of non-farm payroll employees increased by 263,000, and the unemployment rate declined to 3.6 percent. Also, unemployment is at its lowest since 1969 (2019), and the existing pool of unemployed skilled workers has steadily decreased. Due to this decrease in available job seekers, employers are currently seeking employees. As a result, it has made finding a job easier for those seeking new employment, giving them greater leverage during the employment hiring process. Any skilled person can use this situation not just to get a better wage during the recruitment and hiring process, but to get working conditions that result in an ideal work/life balance as well as other benefits.
With the job market favoring employees, those with confident communication skills and experience on their side are shown to receive more substantial wage increases when they venture outside their current employment and seek jobs in a rejuvenated market that is not just looking for skill but for experience in required fields. A survey by HR Mythbusters in 2017 found that the median tenure at a job for workers between ages 55 and 65 was 2.53 years, the median tenure for those between ages 35 and 55 was just under two years, and for those between ages 25 and 35, the median tenure was 1.42 years (Wilkie, 2017). It has become socially acceptable and almost expected for people to switch jobs more often now than in the past. It has also indicated that the people who receive the most significant pay increases are those employees who are taking the risk of moving from stagnant jobs and other positions. Americans who leave their employers to move to a new organization are enjoying pay raises that are one-third larger than raises for workers who stay put at their original company – a gap that has reached the widest point since the Great Recession (Rugaber, 2018).
Employees who request pay increases within their organizations are finding it easier to get their requests met. Most businesses do not want to risk the loss of their more experienced and trusted employees in the new job market to other firms or competitors. They are even more willing to pay these improved wages as long as the employee is dedicated to the company and has shown continued growth in terms of output, but it is causing some financial hardships on some organizations.
Another positive for employees is the continued trend of growing wages. The steady growth of a 3% pay increase per year has been seen, and the trend only seems to keep on rising as the markets are more willing to accept professionals (Stahl, 2017). Due to this trend compounded with the willingness of the employers to accept higher pay requests from job seekers, employees are not likely to have problems reflective of the current market’s pay condition.
Some professions are seeing more market growth than others creating a perfect situation for both employers and employees to make more significant profits and get more significant dividends. Those with the most considerable growth projections are personal care aides, home health aides, food service employees, nurses, and retails workers. There is also a severe shortage of computer programmers, correctional officers, therapists, other mental health practitioners, and human resource managers. These jobs are offering more opportunities primarily due to the lack of employees who have the essential training to keep these positions filled.
The steady rise of contracting and freelancing services also yield another potential employment avenue that was not available previously. An NPR/Marist poll finds that 20% of jobs in America are held by workers under contract (Noguchi, 2018). This statistic shows that in the future contracting and freelancing types of jobs could potentially outnumber full-time employment. Many freelancers or contract employees have chosen to go in that direction to escape the typical 9-5 workweek, although some drawbacks include a lack of benefits and stability. Organizations outsource because it can be cheaper and do so when particular expertise is needed. Onshore, offshore, and nearshore outsourcing is further options for organizations depending on needs. Also, contracted employees do not receive the benefits that full-time employees would otherwise receive, and work on an hourly basis so they can be used as needed. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently issued a report on individuals in alternative work arrangements, which indicated that 16.5 million people now are inclusive of what is known as the “gig economy.” The gig economy refers to people that are paid by the gig or task/project (Stahl, 2017).
Many countries are still contending with the balance between the labor market’s job security, job stability, and flexibility. In developing countries with the crisis of unemployment, the professed benefits of the recovering worldwide market seem nonexistent since no immediate changes in their countries are present, especially among the younger citizens. However, there has been a lot of progress made regarding unemployment. Weak quality employment is now the most significant issue as it related to global markets. World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2019 (WESO) confirms that a majority of the 3.3 billion people employed globally in 2018 had insufficient equality of opportunity, material well-being, and economic security (2019). Even though people might have jobs in the global market, they still reside in poverty.
Even as the majority of the world’s job markets are getting better, proper absorption of different skill sets remains very distinct and separate. Specific degree holders have also been shown to be statistically more viable within the market, making it into the top paid list quickly. The most in-demand degrees include human resources, marketing, business-type degrees, and information technology. Potential employees with healthcare degrees are one of the most sought-after groups with so many nurses retiring each year and as technology advances in the medical field. The potential opportunities make healthcare an attractive field for many people. There is also an ongoing debate regarding experience versus education. Many employers have differing opinions in regards to whether they favor hiring college graduates and interns or at the other spectrum, employing mid-level and higher employees with more years of experience and market-specific training. Regarding these differences, job growth in one sector can fuel overall growth in other industries.
