Modest Job Growth Projected Next Year
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. CREDIT: Tortoise image via Shutterstock |
Workers looking for a new job in the coming year are in luck: Job creation in the first half of 2013 will continue at a solid but not stellar pace, a national survey has found.
Starting salaries, however, will not grow. Workers already employed will be luckier — the chances are better than 50-50 that a raise will be in store for them during the next year.
Nearly half (46 percent) of hiring managers and recruiters expect additional hiring during the first half compared to the last six months of this year, according to more than 1,000 hiring professionals who responded to an email survey from Dicing Holdings. Dice provides specialized websites for professional communities.
This is virtually identical to a survey of hiring managers a year ago, and a tick down from a survey this past May when a majority of respondents (51 percent) expected there would additional hiring during the last six months of 2012.
The modest job growth seems to be more related to the general uncertainty that companies have been operating under for more than a year than concerns about the overall state of the economy. Less than half (44 percent) of hiring managers said that current economic conditions are having an impact on their hiring plans.
For the first time in more than a year, a majority of corporate hiring managers (55 percent) expect that current employees will receive a raise in the coming year. Things are not so rosy, though, for new recruits. Fewer hiring managers and recruiters (43 percent) expect to offer higher initial salaries for new workers during the first six month of 2013 than held that expectation during the last six months of 2012.
In turn, the survey found, the number of candidates refusing job offers (22 percent) is increasing.
"As opposed to a fresh start, employers and employees seem to be entering 2013 ready to hold on to the status quo," said Scot Melland, chairman, president and CEO of Dice. "While it may feel like a good amount of running in place, it's important to remember more than 1.3 million private sector jobs have been created this year and business conditions point to continued modest job growth. If greater confidence returns, I firmly believe hiring managers and professionals will be emboldened to act more decisively."
Reach BusinessNewsDaily senior writer Ned Smith at nsmith@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @nedbsmith.We're also on Facebook & Google+.