The outlook for the fourth quarter of
2014 is positive among accounting, finance,
and information technology professionals,
according to a survey by search, staffing,
and management resources firm Brilliant.
The company’s hiring forecast, based
on nearly 250 survey respondents, indicated open positions and robust plans for
increased hiring.
The majority of survey respondents
(54%) reported that the overall economic
situation of their companies had improved
during the past year—much higher than
the 32% who reported improvement in
this survey a year ago. Asked about specific
industry positions, 28% of survey respondents reported that they plan to increase
The Global Workforce Index from
Kelly Services shows that 85% of the U.S.
workers surveyed report that salary, benefits, and other financial incentives make
an employer attractive or drive their decision to accept one job over another. Other
key factors are work–life balance (named
by 64% of respondents) and opportunities for advancement (cited by 63% of
respondents). Workers say these same three
factors are most likely to cause them to
leave their current organization or change
jobs or careers.
Among other results of the survey,
71% of U.S. workers rated their employers highly on work–life balance, 71% of
the U.S. respondents rated their employers highly for their diversity and equal
opportunities record, 67% gave their
current employers a high rating for environmentally responsible work practices,
and 63% rated their employers highly on
opportunities to be involved in interesting, meaningful work. The global survey
of approximately 230,000 people included
some 102,000 respondents in the U.S.
ASA Skills Gap Index Tracks
Hardest-to-Fill Jobs
The American Staffing Association in
October introduced the ASA Skills Gap
Index, which tracks the number of hardest-to-fill occupations in the U.S each
quarter. For the third quarter of 2014, the
index identified 207 occupations as hard-to-fill.
“The ASA Skills Gap Index quanti-
fies the severity of the skills shortage in
America,” says Richard Wahlquist, ASA
president and chief executive officer.
“These new U.S. skills gap data will be
used by economists, journalists, govern-
ment officials, and, most important, staff-
ing firms as they work with clients to
develop workforce solutions and devise
effective talent acquisition strategies.”
The Skills Gap Index was developed by
ASA using the hiring indicator developed
by its corporate partner CareerBuilder.
The index measures the level of difficulty
(on a scale of one to 100) to recruit for
a specific occupation based on demand,
supply of active candidates, and total
population working in it.
For more about the ASA Skills Gap
Index—and a top 10 list of hard-to-fill
jobs—see Research & Data on
americanstaffing.net.
What Drives Workers’ Job Decisions?
Surveyed professionals
in accounting, finance, and
IT sectors say staffing firms
are the best resource for
finding candidates.
For the third quarter of this
year, the ASA Skills Gap Index
identified 207 occupations
as hard-to-fill.
Strong Demand for Accounting, Finance, and IT Professionals
the hiring of accounting and finance profes-
sionals, and 34% said they plan to increase
the hiring of IT professionals in the coming
quarter.
Hiring companies are looking to staffing
firms and personal referrals for assistance.
Staffing firms were cited as the best resource
for finding candidates. Survey respondents
reported plans to increase their hiring of
temporary accounting and finance employees by 16%, and of temporary IT professionals by 18%.
4.59%90
207 NATIONWIDE 3Q 2014
10-28-14
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