CPA Practice Advisor - 16

A YEAR IN THE LIFE: PAYROLL

ACCOUNTANT

Survey Finds Stong Demand for New Hiring
By Isaac M. O'Bannon, Managing Editor

MORE THAN 40 percent of employers plan to hire full-time, permanent employees this year,
and 47 percent plan to recruit part-time workers. Hiring for full-time employees and part-time
or contract workers is on par with the 2018 report, which was 44 percent and 51 percent last
year, respectively. That's according to data from an annual study by CareerBuilder.
There is demand for full-time
workers, as 50 percent of human
resource managers say they currently have open positions for which
they cannot find qualified candidates.
However, there are candidates ready
to take on those roles. Across all
skills levels, 32 percent of workers are
looking to change jobs in 2019. When
asked why they left their last job,
employees cited
low compensation
or a lack of benefits
(15 percent) and
poor
company
culture (10 percent)
as the reason for
leaving.
■■2019 Hir ing By
Numbers
"The employment outlook is
positive with 40
percent of employers looking to hire
full-time,
permanent employees," said Irina
Novoselsky, CEO
of CareerBuilder.
"While a skills gap
has created an
environment where
employers are having trouble finding
qualified talent,
employees' and
companies' mutual
dedication towards
competency-based
training indicates
we have made
leaps and bounds
toward eliminating

MAY 2019 ■

these obstacles; we've found that 59
percent of employers plan to train
and hire workers who may not be 100
percent qualified but have potential."

EMPLOYMENT AND HIRING
TRENDS TO WATCH
■■ Candidates' soft skills are increasingly important when applying
to jobs. Ninety-two percent of
employers say soft skills, including
interpersonal skills, communication
abilities, and critical thinking, will be
important in determining whether
they will hire candidates. Eighty
percent also said that soft skills
would be equally or more important
t han hard sk ills when hir ing
candidates, since specific technical
skills are necessary for some jobs.
The top skills that employers will be
hiring for in 2019 are the ability to be
team-oriented (51 percent), attention
to detail (49 percent), and customer
service (46 percent).
■■Opportunities for job seekers are
available year-round. Fifty-one
percent of hiring managers recruit
throughout the calendar year for
positions that may open up later on.
Of those who continuously recruit,
55 percent say this reduces their
time-to-hire and 42 percent share it
reduces cost-per-hire.
■■Companies and job seekers are
willing to invest in tech training.
Fifty-five percent of employers
believe that, on average, 50 percent
or more of all jobs include tech
requirements, and 56 percent have
paid for employees to get skills-based
training outside the office, so they
can move up to a higher-skill job
within their organization. However,

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66 percent of employees say their
company does not offer educational
opportunities or workshops outside of
work hours to teach them new skills
they could use in their jobs. Of those
employees, 73 percent say they would
be somewhat or extremely likely to
participate if such opportunities
were offered.
■■Convenience and culture may be
more important than compensation.
Employees cite factors like location
(56 percent), affordable benefits
plans (55 percent), job stability (55
percent), a good boss (48 percent),
and good work culture (44 percent)
as more important than salary when
considering a position.
■■Compensation is on the rise. Twentynine percent of employers expect
the average increase in salaries for
existing employees to be five percent
or more in 2019 compared to 2018.

RECRUITING TRENDS TO
WATCH
■■ The job seeker experience is paramount: HR managers (36 percent)
cite improved user experiences
for candidates, employees, and
hiring managers as a top priority for
recruitment and HR management
going into 2019.
■■Efficiency is critical: HR managers
also say helping recruiters to be more
efficient in filling roles faster with
higher quality candidates (29 percent)
and expediting background checks
(24 percent) are seen as top priorities
for recruitment and HR management
going into 2019.
■■Streamlined communication: Twentytwo percent of HR managers believe
technology will be most beneficial

in helping manage and maintain
regular communication with job
candidates during the application
process. To simplify the process,
CareerBuilder's new TD Companion
App enables hiring managers to communicate directly with candidates
through text message and email.
■■Speak the same language: Recruiters
speak one language and candidates
speak another; it's no wonder
39 percent of HR managers say
technology would be most beneficial
in helping with sorting through
applicants to identify top candidates
and remove candidates that are not
qualified. CareerBuilder has crossed
the language barrier with the use of
AI and semantic search to halve the
applicant to hire ratio.
■■Perfecting the process: Bad hires
can negatively affect companies,
and the main ways they impacted
employers' businesses last year were
less productivity (28 percent), they
negatively impacted employee morale
(25 percent), and they drove up costs
for recruiting and training other
workers (24 percent). Additionally,
employers who have had a bad hire
affect their business in the past year
estimate the average cost of a bad
hire is more than $18,700.

TOP AREAS FOR HIRING
As new technologies are constantly
introduced, legacy industries are
being transformed and the need for
workers with specialized, high-tech
capabilities is on the rise.
■■In Demand Areas for Hiring
■■Jobs tied to skilled labor: 25 percent
■■Jobs tied to data analysis: 21 percent
■■Jobs tied to digital marketing: 12
percent
■■Jobs tied to cyber security: 11 percent
■■Jobs tied to AI and machine learning:
10 percent
■■Jobs tied to healthy living: 10 percent ■

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