Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

…for a new job.

About three-quarters of employees polled by the Society of Human Resources Managers (SHRM) and the Wall Street Journal’s CareerJournal.com said they are looking for a job. HR professionals who were also surveyed said that, on average, 12% of their organizations’ workforce had voluntarily resigned since the beginning of 2006.

Not surprisingly, 73% of HR professionals said they are concerned about the voluntary resignation rate at their organizations.

“As the economy and job market continue to improve, employee retention poses a greater challenge for HR professionals,” said Gail Griffin, general manager, CareerJournal.com “The top three reasons people voluntarily leave their organizations are for better compensation elsewhere, career opportunity elsewhere, and dissatisfaction with the potential for career development.”

Whatever the reason, when people leave their jobs, opportunity exists for others.  As long as the economy is strong, people will move from job to job.  A job that someone leaves, regardless of the reason, may be the best job for you.

Source: ReliablePlant.com

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 167,000 jobs, the biggest advance in three months, the Labor Department said Friday, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.5%

The source for U.S. employment growth in December was the service sector, where payrolls rose by 178,000 jobs. Retailers eliminated 9,000 jobs, but leisure and hospitality businesses added 31,000 jobs and professional- and business-services companies created 50,000 jobs. Education and health-services firms added another 43,000 jobs.

Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Thursday that job cuts announced by U.S. corporations in December decreased by 29% from November. Announced job cuts for December totaled 54,643 compared with 76,773 in the prior month and 107,822 in December 2005.

What does this mean?  Here’s what the economists are saying:

“The solid jobs growth shows an economy holding up well despite the hit from the downturn in the housing sector and the autos industry,”  – Nigel Gault of Global Insight

“A uniformly strong report. Three key signs of strength: 1) strong payrolls growth despite housing and manufacturing drag; 2) unchanged unemployment rate combined with rising labor force participation and 3) strong wage gains suggesting that 1) and 2) above are not flukes but represent real labor market strength”. – Drew Matus, Lehman Brothers Global Economics

“These data purport to show very little cross-infection from the manufacturing slowdown and construction crunch into the rest of the economy. This does not mean it will not happen in the future, but it does mean that the pressure we expected to see on the Fed to ease in the first quarter has not yet materialized. … we now pencil-in May for the first [Fed rate] move.” –  Ian Shepherdson, High Frequency Economics

Source:  The Wall Street Journal

 

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Employers added 51,000 jobs in September. This is sparse.  In fact, this is the fewest new jobs added in about a year. The unemployment rate fell to 4.6% from 4.7% in August. 

What does this mean for you? 

Well, for one thing, it means that you should be able to get another job if you want one. 

For another thing, it means that wages should increase.  Doesn’t that make sense?  It seems like basic supply and demand.  If the supply of workers decreases (as less people are unemployed) employers will need to offer better packages to workers to get them to take jobs.

Unfortunately, companies usually don’t react until it’s too late.  In order to benefit from this condition, you’ll need to look for another job.  In a phenomenon that effects most of the companies I’m familiar with, they wait until most of their best employees leave before they change the compensation. So what do they get for their efforts?  They get inexperienced workers that they have to pay more money.

Here’s an idea:  Give the existing super-stars 30% more and let them figure out how to pick up the slack of the open positions. 

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

A recent study published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine concludes that “sick building syndrome” is largely caused not by the presence of airborne bacteria and other environmental factors, but by job stress and bad management. In companies in which employees have more choice and ability to control environmental factors, complaints of SBS-like symptoms were much lower. This is really no surprise. The more freedom we have to control our own lives, the happier and healthier we are.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

The US Government has released the latest unemployment stats and they look good for job seekers.  The report says the unemployment rate remained at 4.7% and average hourly earnings increased 9 cents, or 0.5%, to $16.61.  Hourly wages are up almost 4% (3.8% to be exact).  When unemployment stays flat (or decreases) wages increase.  This is simple supply and demand. 

What does this mean for you?  If you are creating and demonstrating value regularly you should be able to demand a premium over and above the standard.

How much would it take to get you to switch jobs?  Is a 10% increase enough?  How about 20%?

Neither of those is outside of the realm of possibility.  

You need to decide for yourself how much you think you’re worth.  Once you have come to grips with that number (most people underestimate their own value) you need go out and get it. 

The time has never been better. What are you waiting for?

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Money magazine and Salary.com have created a list of the Top 50 Jobs in America. If you’re thinking of a career change, this list can provide some inspiration.

Another Money article points out why it’s much better for everyone involved for you to love your work.

“People who are satisfied on the job have the best perks in areas you might expect, but they actually put in longer hours than less satisfied employees, according to a new survey. The most satisfied reported averaged 56 hours a week—11 hours more than the least satisfied group. Almost without exception, as satisfaction rose, workers reported putting in longer hours.”

It’s only natural that you’re going to be less likely to count the hours doing work you enjoy doing. Don’t waste your time (or your employer’s) simply earning a paycheck. Do what you love.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

This chart on the safest and riskiest sole proprietorships illuminates several compelling points. First of all, it gives a general impression of the types of businesses that are most likely to succeed. Secondly, it shows what percentage of which businesses enjoyed success or suffered losses, according to IRS data. And finally, it reveals that 75% of sole proprietorships came out ahead in 2002. That is a very encouraging statistic. It suggests that up to 3 out of 4 sole proprietors will succeed in their endeavor. Surely it’s worth it to take a shot at something that has a 75% chance of success?

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Unemployment is down to 4.7%. See stats specific to your state here, and browse current job postings here:

Career Builder
Monster.com
Yahoo! Jobs
Jobs.net
USAJOBS (government jobs)

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

US News and World Report points out the hottest jobs in the country today.  Here are the highlights:

Accountant

Key Point:  The government estimates that jobs for accountants will increase by between 18 and 26 percent through 2014.

Requirements: The vast majority of states require certified public accountants to be college graduates, but some substitute a number of years of public accounting experience for an advanced degree.

Money: The average accountant’s salary is $50,800.

Truck Driver

Key Point:  The government pegs the expected job growth in the trucking and warehousing industry at around 14 percent from now through 2014.

Requirements: A commercial driver’s license and a clean driving record.

Money: Median salaries range from $13.76 per hour for light service trucking to $21.93 per hour for more specialized and long-distance haulers.

Special-Education Teacher

Key Point:  The Labor Department forecasts that special-education positions will be the fastest-growing jobs in education, increasing by between 18 and 26 percent through 2014.

Requirements: Each state has its own requirements for licensing special-education teachers. Normally, this means a bachelor’s degree with a certain number of education credits and supervised classroom teaching experience. Most teachers must also pass a professional certification test.

Money: Average salaries for special-ed teachers vary by region, state, and school district but usually fall in the $35,000-to-$55,000 range.

Hazardous Materials Removal Specialist

Key Point:  The federal government foresees an increase of 27 percent or more in employment of hazardous materials removal workers through 2014.

Requirements: There are no formal education requirements beyond a high school diploma for landing a job as a hazardous waste removal worker, though certification ordinarily calls for a 32-to-40-hour course.

Money: Hazardous materials removal workers earned an average of $16 per hour in May 2004, the most recent statistics available. Workers with more advanced training can earn upwards of $27.25 per hour.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

The Labor Department reported Friday that non-farm payrolls jumped 243,000 in February.  As the employment climate tightens up opportunities increase for people who create value.  We are already starting to see the effects of this.  Here is a quote from today’s Wall Street Journal:

John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a global outplacement firm based in Chicago, says companies are considering giving signing bonuses to skilled workers, again. Employee poaching is picking up. And employees are being wooed with tuition reimbursement and telecommuting programs. “There’s a war for talent, again,” Mr. Challenger says.

What does this mean for you?  It means that you now have more options than ever.

 

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

CNNMoney has posted an interesting article on job offers to the class of 2006.

The information in the article is based on a quarterly survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges & Employers’ (NACE).  The study found that students in most college majors are experiencing an increase in starting salary year-over-year.   Economics/Finance Majors experienced the greatest growth (11%) from 2005 followed by Accounting majors (6.2%) and Liberal Arts majors (6.1%). 

The survey also reported that employers also planned to increase college graduate hires by almost 15% in 2006. 

Overall it seems like a good time to be graduating from college.

 

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

The Entrepreneurial Mind gives us the ten reasons why we should all love small business.  They are:

• Small businesses make up 99.7 percent of all United States employers.
• Small businesses create more than 50 percent of the American nonfarm private gross domestic product (GDP).
• Small patenting firms produce 13 to 14 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms.
• The more than 24 million small businesses in the United States are located in every community and neighborhood.
• Small businesses employ 50.1 percent of the United States’ non-farm private sector workers.
• Home-based businesses account for 53 percent of all small businesses.
• Small businesses are 97 percent of America’s exporters and produce 26 percent of all export value.
• United States saw an estimated 580,865 new small firms with employees start-up in the last year measured.
• There are approximately 4,115,900 minority-owned businesses and 6,492,795 women-owned businesses in the United States, and almost all of them are small businesses.
• The latest figures show that small business creates 65 percent or more of America’s net new jobs.

It is a great time to be an entrepreneur.

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Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

Career Journal has an article out that says that higher level jobs in companies are getting tougher to come by. The article uses the figure of 200 to 1 to describe the number of applicants for every available position.

The higher you progress up the career ladder the more difficult it becomes to change jobs. People who know themselves, create value and demonstrate value are always in high demand. This is a process of continuous career improvement that can help you jump to the top of the list of 200.

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