Blog Post: Keep your oar in the water—the tide’s higher than you think

It seems for the past six months all the economic news we’ve heard is negative. Layoffs, bailouts, buyouts, and sales numbers that have fallen off a cliff. However, the World at Work organization published three optimistic business items in its Jan. 14 “Workspan Weekly Total Rewards” e-newsletter that may give hope to concerned job-seekers:

• A Right Management survey of more than 700 HR professionals revealed that 67 percent of respondents plan to focus on retaining and engaging employees, and 33 percent of respondents plan to reduce their workforce. Commenting on the results, Douglas J. Matthews, Right Management’s president and COO, said, “While layoffs are anticipated given the market volatility, what is surprising is that so many organizations are planning to invest in their employees. Organizations need to keep key positions filled.”

 

• Despite some colossal layoffs in a variety of industries, a new telephone survey of nearly 1,100 workers found that the same proportion of U.S. workers polled plan to job hunt in 2009 as was the case at this time last year. According to the survey, 26 percent of employed Americans plan to look for a new job this year. This should be encouraging to job-hunters who have been afraid to look because of the perceived size of the talent pool.

 

• Finally, a Harris Interactive survey of 3,200 hiring managers and HR professionals in private sector companies revealed 66 percent of companies have plans to increase employee wages in 2009. The survey also found that one-third of employers plan to offer higher starting salaries than in the past and 31 percent of employers are considering implementing flex benefits to attract and retain employees.

With these silver linings in the clouds of the massive storm front that is the current recession, it’s OK to look for new opportunities! If you’re a gradate of Arizona State University, consider visiting the Sun Devil Career Network, an ASU-centric job portal powered by Jobing.com. Alumni can find scores of well-paying jobs in a broad spectrum of industries and many of the jobs are posted exclusively to the portal.

Don’t let the economic gloom and doom stop your job hunt. People are being hired all across the Valley each and every day!