Wall Street Journal (03/07/12) James R. Hagerty

New college graduates comprise the demographic most likely to take the brunt of the downward pressure on wages in the current economic climate, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The average inflation-adjusted hourly wage for male college graduates in their 20s declined 11% over the past 10 years to $21.68 in 2011, while the average wage for female college graduates the same age has fallen 7.6% to $18.80. In contrast, the average inflation-adjusted hourly wage for production and nonsupervisory workers of all ages and education levels has risen 3% over the past 10 years, government figures indicate.

MSNBC (03/06/12) Eve Tahmincioglu

New studies showing that more employees are quitting their jobs indicate an increase in worker confidence. A survey of recruiters by MRINetwork shows a jump in job openings resulting from resignations to 28% in January from 21% in July 2011. Meanwhile, a February report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that 1.9 million people quit their jobs, indicating more confidence about job availability among employees even though the figure trails the 2.8 million resignations reported in December 2007.

Nancy Halverson, senior vice president of operations at MRINetwork, adds that hiring has picked up a bit as well. “Organizations are adding and upgrading talent, and all of a sudden, employees are willing to say, ‘I’ll put my name out there,'” she says. Of the 163 recruiters polled by MRINetwork, 56% said candidates are driving the job market. As for how they identify candidates, 11% said active candidates were in the database already, 16% looked to the competition, 18% used referrals, and 25% searched third-party databases. The most desired qualities in candidates are a history of generating revenue, previous employment with a brand name company, and advanced degrees.

Computerworld (03/06/12) Fred O’Connor

Salaries for people who have backgrounds in five popular technologies are expected to increase this year, according to a study from information technology staffing firm Bluewolf. Workers with experience in mobile application and software development, cloud computing, data analysis, and user interface design will benefit, Bluewolf says. The IT job market is already competitive, and it is expected to become even more so as current workers retire. The study covered a variety of IT positions, including executives, software developers, and system administrators.

Network World (03/06/12) Ann Bednarz

Robert Half International polled 4,000 U.S. executives—including chief information officers, chief financial officers, senior human resource managers, lawyers, and advertising and marketing executives—to determine their hiring plans for the second quarter of 2012. More CIOs say recruiting is a challenge than do their counterparts in other professions, with 65% saying it’s a challenge to find talent. Candidates with a solid knowledge of cloud computing and software as a service are highly sought, Robert Half reports. Across all professions, 61% of the executives report recruiting challenges.

Among all respondents, 89% expect to maintain headcount in the second quarter, 5% expect to increase staff levels, and 3% expect to decrease staff. The strongest hiring activity is expected in the legal and marketing fields, with a net 22% of lawyers and 10% of marketing executives planning to increase headcount. Robert Half pollsters also asked executives about their companies’ prospects for growth in the second quarter, and 91% say they are confident about growth.