Category: Employment

By Jane Thier

The average starting salary for college graduates is $55,000, but current college students think they’ll earn nearly double that amount from their first job out of school.

The students said they expect to make almost $104,000, according to a recent survey of 1,000 undergrads by real estate data company Clever.

The lofty expectations are a fairly new development. The class of 2019, for example, had expected to earn nearly $50,000 less, Danetha Doe, an economist at Clever, tells Fortune. “They’re asking for more, so they can enjoy the financial comfort other generations have been able to afford,” she says, though most students clearly are having to settle for far less.

Continue reading… “This year’s college grads think they’ll earn over $100,000 from their first job. In reality, they’ll make half as much”

By Vera Gibbons

Susana Boey has always been a hard-working high-achiever so when she took a job in corporate marketing at an international media company in New York City in 2015, she rolled up her sleeves and enthusiastically got to work.

Every day, the now 31-year old Boey would make the hour-and-a-half commute from her apartment in Washington Heights to midtown Manhattan, work through lunch, and stay well past 6 p.m. “If I could fit in anything after work, that was a bonus. Work was my life and I was very fulfilled living this way,” she said, until one day she wasn’t.

“The pandemic hit, budgets got cut, workloads got bigger, workdays got longer, and I got tired,” said Boey. “I wanted a different life.”

Boey quit last spring, becoming part of a movement that’s been dubbed the “Great Resignation.”

In August alone, 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs. That’s the highest number on record since the government began collecting data 20 years ago.

Continue reading… “‘The Great Resignation’ is creating more entrepreneurs, side hustlers, and freelancers”

By Jennifer Liu

Women have born the brunt of job loss and negative career impacts over the course of the pandemic, due to a host of factors such as carrying the weight of caregiving responsibilities, as well as their overrepresentation in in-person jobs vulnerable to disruption during the Covid-19 crisis.

As a result, nearly half of all women say the pandemic has negatively impacted their career path, according to a MetLife survey of 2,000 U.S. workers conducted in September. Nearly 1 in 5 women say they’ve been pushed out of the labor force altogether.

One encouraging sign is emerging, however, which could signal greater economic recovery: 2 in 3 women who’ve been forced out of work say they plan to return, according to MetLife.

At the same time, U.S. employers are facing a talent crunch as Americans quit their jobs at record rates throughout 2021, in search of roles better suited to their needs and interests. As such, employment experts say businesses must turn their attention toward what kind of work environment and solutions they can provide in order to hire and retain more working women.

Women are overwhelmingly looking for increased flexibility (78%) and career progression opportunities (73%) in their current or future employer, the MetLife report finds.

The majority of women also say that it’s important their current or future employer provides economic incentives; tailored benefits; upskilling programs; and diversity, equity and inclusion programs in order for them to feel well supported in the workplace.

Continue reading… “Nearly 2 in 3 women who left the workforce during Covid plan to return—and most want to enter this field”

By Morgan Smith

While the coronavirus pandemic has battered some industries, others have thrived despite the ongoing crisis, including technology and science. In fact, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for jobs in math, science and technology will continue to surge over the next decade. 

Hiring in the computer and information technology fields has faster projected growth between 2020 and 2030 than all other fields. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that demand for these workers stems from companies’ “greater emphasis on cloud computing, the collection and storage of big data, and information security.” https://36fb0f20cce80f27104950e6c539a9f4.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html?n=0

The coronavirus pandemic has expedited demand for other science and technology roles as well, including epidemiologists and information security analysts. “The prevalence of remote work has created additional need for network security and operations support,” Megan Slabinski, the district president for global talent solutions at recruitment firm Robert Half, tells CNBC Make It. Slabinski specializes in recruiting for technology positions. 

Continue reading… “The 10 fastest-growing science and technology jobs of the next decade”

It’s tough to change, but your job could depend on it. Be flexible in your career goals – and talk with your kids about their own aspirations, because if you want to be employed for the long haul, you need to think about how industries are changing.

by: Neale Godfrey

No one has a crystal ball, but we are in a time of great change, and we want our skills to be relevant and needed moving forward. And just as important, we want our kids and grandkids to have happy and fulfilling jobs.  Which brings us to an important question: What jobs are likely to disappear or become obsolete over the next decade or so?

Continue reading… “Dying Careers You May Want to Steer Clear Of”

BY KIM SEELING SMITH

If you are like most managers, you probably frequently ask yourself:

“How do I get the best out of my team?”

“What truly motivates them?”

“How can I help them unlock their potential?”

You may also ask, especially around performance review time, “How can I manage their performance without a lot of stress or sweaty-palm-inducing conversations?”

There have been reams of information written about employee motivation and performance over the last 100 years. But we’ve found there are nine key factors that impact these metrics—and they are much more important than pay and benefits.

I call these nine factors the Currencies of Choice. I discovered them as the result of reverse-engineering during 5,000 exit interviews I conducted with an international team of recruiters over the course of 15 years.

This research, along with numerous studies from organizations and managers who regularly use the Currencies of Choice model, shows that intrinsic motivators are much more effective in keeping employees motivated and engaged—and helping them perform well and realize their potential—than pay and benefits.

Continue reading… “I spoke to 5,000 people and these are the real reasons they’re quitting”

Problematic hiring software and bad job descriptions deserve a big chunk of the blame.

BY JESSICA STILLMAN

A scroll through business media or even a stroll through your local downtown is enough to reveal just how desperate companies are to hire right now. “Help Wanted” signs adorn nearly every shop window, and the press is full of stories of companies offering extraordinary perks to attract talent. 

Given the incredible difficulty of hiring during “the Great Resignation,” you’d therefore probably be pretty shocked to hear that many of America’s most respected businesses are turning away millions of qualified applicants for no good reason at all. But that’s just what recent research from Harvard and Accenture found. 

Continue reading… “In the Middle of the Great Resignation, Employers Are Rejecting Millions of Qualified Workers, New Harvard Research Finds”