Last week I asked what you were seeing in regard to employment in the industry and the economy and I heard from quite a number of you! 

While not exactly a rosy outlook, it wasn't all bad news either. First let's look at what employers had to say.

The respondents came from a a cross section of the industry:

And while most employers reported that they had no senior management openings, and very few management openings, 85% of the employers stated that they had filled hourly openings this year.

Looking to the future, I thought employers were cautiously optimistic, with only 6.7% saying that they thought the number of openings would "decrease a lot."

While near 50% of employers thought the level of candidate quality was "average" an almost equal amount thought that candidate quality was above average to very high, with the quality of senior level / executives being the highest.

What did employees have to say?

First of all, our respondents are very stable bunch, with only 14.8% having made a move in the past 6 months, and a full 23.8% having been with their current employer for 5 years or more.

72.5% of respondents were management level or above.

Given the high level and length of employment I was surprised to see that 79.1% definitely plan on looking for a new opportunity within the next year, with another 13.2% considering it. That leaves only 7.7% who definitely plan to staying where they are.

Employers take note!  This is not the time to get lax with employee relations...

Biggest complaints?

From employers: Candidates don't read the job description / job posting and apply for things they are not qualified for.

From job seekers: This was repeated many times, from many candidates - they find it very frustrating (and sometimes downright rude) when they apply, and sometimes even interview with a company, only to be left hanging with no word or response.

Thanks so much to all of you who participated!

Want to see all the results? Take the survey and at the conclusion you will get the full report.

With 79.1% of respondents planning on making a change, its the perfect time to conduct an employee satisfaction survey!  Call me at 707-319-2500 or email Margie@OTLConsulting.com for info.