The headline in the New York Times this morning: "U.S. Economy Gains Steam As 200,000 Jobs Are Added "! It seems that finally, we have some momentum starting to build on the employment front.The Times' article went on to say:
"The United States added 200,000 jobs in December, the Labor Department said Friday, in a sign that the economic recovery has built up a head of steam.
The nation’s unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent from 8.6 percent in November, the government said. The employment report built on a flurry of heartening economic news in December, when consumer confidence rose, manufacturing came in strong and small businesses showed signs of life. It was the sixth straight month that the economy has added more than 100,000 jobs."
Obviously, that's great news and it comes on the heels of other interesting statistics (thanks Ted Konnerth):
- "The NEMA Business Confidence Index is solidly positive at 56 (greater than 50 is considered a growth condition)
- Anywhere from 40% to over 75% of current employees are ready to leave their current employer for a better or simply different job. (Multiple sources)
- Employment hiring stats have been positive for 13 consecutive months (BLS)
- And in the 'curious' category: 2/3's of HR employees are female, 92% of HR employees are white, their average age is 47 and 72% earn more than $90,000 (household). The very bastion of power for ensuring and developing diversity within our companies is in fact... very homogeneous, and relatively young.
- Education is highly correlated with employment. High school dropouts have over 15% unemployment, HS diploma is roughly 10%, some college is 8% and college degree (all) is under 4%. (BLS)
- And, baby boomers have officially begun their slog to retirement."
One of the things all these statistics indicate is that there's likely going to start to be a rush for employees looking for new opportunities. For any number of reasons, they're unhappy with their current employer and will start looking for that new job. At the same time, there continues to be a paucity of
What are you doing to enhance your employement situation (and/or career)? For those that are just "disgruntled", have you done anything beyond your job description to help your employer? Have you gone "above and beyond" to help? Have you volunteered for anything? Have you talked to your boss with ideas for improving the company? Have you tried to rally your co-workers for your employer's benefit? Or, do you sit around and bitch, thereby contributing to the poisoning of the company environment and maybe even culture?
For those more genuinely ready to move on, perhaps you've outgrown your responsibilities, or there simply is no opportunity to be promoted or maybe you're more interested in growing professionally than your employer is in supporting that growth . . . are you ready if an opportunity fell into your lap tomorrow? What if a recruiter calls you out of the blue, or you see your dream job posted somewhere . . .
Are you ready to respond promptly and powerfully? Is your resume and supporting portfolio (no matter what you do, certainly in marketing, you need a "portfolio") so excellent that it does a superb job of demonstrating how you stand out from your peers? Is your online branding current and properly focused for your professional goals? If the answer is no, or "I'm not sure", now is when you should be working on everything. If the answer is yes, then network like crazy to find that next opportunity!
Things are changing for the better and you had best be ready. 2012 is going to be a great year!