May 14, 2012

Advantage employee: Worker confidence on the rise

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Seattle's current run of consecutive outstandingly beautiful weekends is not the only sunny news to hit the Puget Sound region in recent weeks. As the afternoons grow longer and the temperatures get warmer, there appears to be a gradual and sustainable return to normalcy in the job market, both locally and nationally.

For an economic recovery to occur, the first thing that needs to change is attitude on the part of both hiring managers and job seekers. Employers must feel optimistic enough to risk expansion and focus on acquiring talent rather than cutting costs. At the same time, workers must feel confident enough to look for work not out of desperation but to find the perfect fit for their interests and talents. Three recent bellwether developments seem to indicate that both of these crucial elements are falling into place:

1) A year and a half of steady job growth. For starters, 3,300 jobs were added in Washington state in March, the 18th month in the past 19 in which the state has added jobs, says the Employment Security Department (ESD). The sectors that were the strongest include government (1,300 new jobs, mostly in higher education), retail trade (1,200 jobs), manufacturing (1,000 jobs) and financial activities (1,000 jobs).

2) A reduction in emergency benefits. This rate of job growth has led to another "positive" employment development, although it may not seem like good news to many struggling job seekers. Because Washington's unemployment rate has dipped from a high of 10.2 percent in December 2009 to the current 8.3 percent, ESD has reduced the maximum number of weeks of emergency unemployment compensation from 99 to 73, as of April 21.

This reduction, of course, means more than six fewer months of much-needed assistance for those who have been looking for work for more than a year. But these decisions are not made arbitrarily. The benefits were reduced because, at 99 weeks, they were already artificially very high to begin with, in response to the extraordinary conditions created by the Great Recession. By cutting back to 73 weeks, the ESD adjustment is merely a recognition that most job seekers statewide are able to find work faster.

3) Workers are getting restless. Last week HR firm Randstad US released the results of its annual Engagement Index survey, which gives employers an idea of how contented their workforce is and measures the likelihood that employees will seek new jobs. This latest survey, which involved more than 3,000 U.S. workers across a broad spectrum of industries, suggests that the tide is slowly turning in favor of job seekers.

More than half of the workers surveyed said they anticipate a job-market turnaround this year, and 75 percent said they felt secure in their current jobs. While 58 percent of employees in the study said they didn't think they could find a new job that they would accept this year, nearly half said they plan to explore new job options.

Most tellingly, nearly a third of what Randstad calls "highly engaged employees" -- those who are most enthusiastic about their current positions -- said they are likely to consider a new job within the next six months. And 26 percent of this same group said they would "give a lot of consideration to an offer from another company."

"As the economy and job market continue to recover, employees will likely be more motivated to assess their careers and look towards future prospects," said Joanie Ruge, senior vice president and chief employment analyst for Randstad US. "Companies need to be on the lookout for both at-risk employees and top performers and tailor their engagement plans to meet their differing needs."

In other words: It's time for employers to at least meet prospective candidates halfway. The time appears to have passed when companies could slash benefits from positions and expect to retain top talent. As the economy continues its slow-but-steady, three-years-and-counting recovery, we have reached a point where job seekers are beginning to win back equal footing with hiring managers. Workers in some in-demand industries may even be in a position to negotiate for higher pay than they have been seeing since 2008.

So job seekers: Don't take that first offer that comes along if you feel it's not the right fit. Don't accept that painfully long commute unless you get reimbursed for it. Ask for more money or a few extra perks if you can demonstrate you have the experience and skills to back it up.

Employers have used the economy as a perfectly legitimate excuse to cut back on compensation packages, but this is becoming harder to justify in 2012. Hiring managers know all too well that they are about to face a talent crunch as the unemployment rate shrinks. Job seekers would be wise to recognize this, too, and use it to their advantage.

Randy Woods writes about job-search tools, networking techniques and other tips to help you land your dream job.

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career change, economy, HR, negotiating, self-confidence, unemployment