Report Indicates Job Candidates Now Have the ‘EDGE’

The hiring environment has changed. While employers were in the driver’s seat earlier in the decade, the tide has shifted back to job seekers, according to the recent Employment Dynamics and Growth Expectations (EDGE) Report from Robert Half International and CareerBuilder.com. The study explores employment, hiring and compensation trends from the perspective of both hiring managers and employees in an effort to gauge who has more leverage in the job market.

Companies are confronting the dual challenge of the looming retirement of baby boomers along with a shortage of talented workers to replace them. In addition, hiring managers are having more difficulty finding qualified applicants and are more willing to increase starting salaries and offer bonuses to attract them. As a result, job seekers with in-demand skills are finding more opportunities to choose from and more flexibility in compensation packages. Following is a closer look at some of the survey findings:

Four out of five hiring managers surveyed said they believe it is equally or more challenging to recruit new candidates compared to 12 months ago, and more than 80 percent expect the trend to continue over the next year.
Fifty-two percent of hiring managers said a shortage of skilled candidates was their primary challenge in finding qualified staff; 21 percent said the top challenge was the inability to offer competitive compensation.
Of the 1,000 hiring managers polled, 38 percent expect compensation offers to rise in the next year. Another 54 percent forecast no change, and only 8 percent anticipate a decrease.

While salaries are on the rise at many firms, money is not the only concern for prospective employees. Forty-five percent of workers surveyed view health insurance as the most important benefit, while 24 percent cited flexible work hours as most significant.

If you are working with tight salary budgets, you can still compete for top accounting and finance professionals by heralding other benefits offered by your organization. Remember that excellent health coverage and perks such as bonuses, telecommuting options, training opportunities and retirement-savings plans can add great appeal to job offers.