As the first half of 2009 came to an end, some say that the job market is starting to show some signs of improvement and that the economy is beginning to stabilize. According to Automatic Data Processing, a payroll-processing firm, private-sector employers cut 473,000 jobs in June, which was a 2.5% improvement from the revised 485,000 drop in May. However, the overall number of job losses continues to climb and the unemployment rate has reached 9.5%, the highest level in 26 years at the end of June. Many economists are predicting that the unemployment rate will continue to rise into next year and perhaps even top 10% before it begins to level off. Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost over 6.5 million jobs, leaving numerous business professionals across industries looking for work, some after many years of being employed, and not knowing how to begin their job search process.
With a continued threat of sale and profit loss, many companies are faced with challenging economic conditions and remain somewhat reluctant to hire additional workers, making it harder for the unemployed to find work. We recently polled business professionals across our network, and over 65% indicated that their company is “cutting staff” in this economy. For some companies, cutting staff is the easiest and obvious first cost saving measure; however, additional trends such as reducing salaries, providing less office perks and benefits, and instituting furloughs or shorter work weeks, are becoming more prevalent in order to avoid cutting valuable personnel.
The good news is that there are employers that are still hiring. Most new employer registrations that we received across the Beyond.com Network in second quarter 2009 were represented by small businesses. Over 51% of all businesses hiring had 50 or less employees. Although it is common for many job seekers to look to larger corporations for employment, the small business sector should not be overlooked as many opportunities are available to be part of a growing company across many different industries, such as the healthcare and financial sectors.
Please click here to view the full Beyond.com Q2 2009 Career Trend Analysis Report.
