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HR Executives Expecting Tight Hiring Market

Despite rising unemployment rates and shrinking corporate payrolls, human resource executives believe it will be more difficult to recruit mid to high-level employees in 2008, a survey of Human Resource executives at small and midsize Fortune 500 firms finds. Nearly all recruiting activities to be more, not less, difficult than last year, those surveyed contend. The one exception will be the filling of entry-level positions, according to these respondents from 25 of the largest U.S. states. Of particular concern is the recruitment of mid-level supervisors and candidates at the director level or higher.

“The unemployment and payroll statistics clearly don’t tell the whole story,” says Daniel Solomons, CEO and president of Hyrian, in a news release from the company. “According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, most of the recent job losses have been in manufacturing, construction, government and a variety of professional and business services. Those losses have masked an ongoing need for employees that we’re seeing in other areas of the economy, including healthcare, IT, finance, engineering and sales.”

Despite the growing economic pressures, salary offers will have to increase for new hires in these fields, those surveyed believe, with a majority expecting to pay salary premiums that are 5% to 15% or higher for IT, clinical, marketing, sales, engineering, finance and accounting, and mid management professionals. The smallest increases are expected to be for clerical and retail positions. Recruitment itself is expected to be more challenging in certain segments of the labor market, the survey reveals. These include jobs that require technical and engineering, IT, and sales skills. Conversely, hourly, clerical and customer service positions will become somewhat less difficult to fill.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents believe it will be necessary for their company to more proactively recruit talent in the coming year as compared to the level of recruitment over the last five years. More than two-thirds of these executives believe they will need to actively recruit all or most of the time in 2008.

Retention is the most pressing issue in 2008, 78% of surveyed HR executives surveyed believe. Benefits were the second most critical issue, with 60% of respondents ranking a robust health plan as a top benefit. A 401K plan is the second most important benefit, and least important is child care, ranking near the bottom by two-thirds of the respondents.