Job Market Insights & Trends for 2019
THE TIGHT JOB MARKET
Why is the 2019 job market tight?
It seems that 46% of employers in the U.S. report difficulty recruiting talent. But if job searchers or career changers were not successful in their search to date, how did they position themselves? And did prospects hear one of these reasons for why they were not hired?
RELEVANT DRIVERS OF TALENT SHORTAGE:
- First, applicants lack experience.
- Secondly, required hard skills are lacking.
- Thirdly, applicants lack required soft skills.
- Fourthly, applicants expect higher pay than offered.
- Finally, expecting better benefits than offered.
“The first quarter of 2019 will continue to be tight labor market. It is strong despite uncertainty with Tariffs and trade.”
President of Manpower Group North America.
And the following trends are sometimes overlooked. Or they are hidden in the unemployment figures.
- The Baby Boomers will continue to work. And they’ve been told for 30 years that Social Security will fail. Also, they’ve seen the values of their 401(k)’s plummet overnight several times. And, they have had their property values fall.
- Meanwhile, the Millennials (and now Gen Z) are radically changing the definition of jobs. And they are ignoring traditional employment. As well, they are not owning cars or houses, marrying, or having children.
So how does this affect those in pursuit of a career or job change?
Well, it’s somewhat counterintuitive. The media tells them there are millions of jobs waiting to be filled. But many career or job changers were rejected as “not qualified.” Or they didn’t want the jobs as advertised. So what is going on?
THE EXECUTIVE JOB MARKET
Often, the executive-level jobs in corporate America are held by someone who refuses to move on. Or, when they do move on, the positions are not replaced. The 40-hour workweek for a salaried executive no longer fits the fixed costs averse, bottom-line operational mentality.
And opportunities for executive careers or job changers are not that common. But there is hope. Why? Because The Barrett Group has an excellent track record of finding them.
The executive job market is a rarified target. So, those looking for a job will need to be several things. “Everywhere at once. All the time. And they will need to be in the right place at the right time.” But, that is part of the service The Barrett Group provides.
The Bureau of Labor lists these Fastest Growing Management Occupations from now to 2026. And they are growing at an 8% rate with an average median wage of $102,590:
- Administrative Management (Plan, Direct & Coordinate)
- Marketing Management
- Compensation / Benefits Management
- Computer Information Systems Management
- Construction Managers
- Emergency Management
- Financial Managers
- Food Service Managers
- Human Resources Managers
- Sales Managers
- Top Executives
Again, the “Top Executives” are growing at 8%. It seems unlikely that there are enough qualified people ready to move into these emerging opportunities. But, this is good news for the executive career job changers.
FAST GROWTH REGIONS
The area with the highest job growth continues to be the Sunshine State of Florida. And the strongest growth industries are Hospitality, Transportation, and Utilities.
The fastest-growing job regions in 2018:
- Reno Nevada 5.9% increase.
- Midland, Texas 5.7% increase.
- Colorado Springs, Colorado 5% increase.
- Orlando, Kissimmee Florida 4.8% increase.
- Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale Arizona 4.2% increase.
BUREAU OF LABOR 2018 PAST DATA
Occupations, Employment & Wages for Executives
- General & Operations Managers is one of the top ten leading employment categories.
- And General & Operations Managers wages increased to: $123,460 on average.
Alternative worker arrangements
- There are four major alternatives to W2 employment. They are Independent Contractors, On-Call Workers, Temporary help agency workers, and Workers provided by contract firms.
- Independent Contractors is the largest category. It has 10.6 million of them which is 6.9% of the workforce.
BUREAU OF LABOR 2019 OUTLOOK
In conclusion, the top occupations projected new jobs by numbers and median salary in 2019 are listed below.
| Software Developers / Applications | 225,000 New Jobs | $101,790 Median Salary | ||
| General & Operations Managers | 205,200 New Jobs | $100,410 Median Salary | ||
| Accountants / Auditors | 139,900 New Jobs | $69,350 Median Salary | ||
| Marketing Analysts / Specialists | 138,300 New Jobs | $63,230 Median Salary | ||
| Management Analysts | 112,500 New Jobs | $37,630 Median Salary |
References: ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey United States, Q1 2019, U.S. Bureau of Labor
The Barrett Group is a boutique career management firm. We work for executives using a basic service philosophy. The Barrett Group serves each client uniquely. Because we do not believe in a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approach, our service delivery is designed around this belief.
