Human Resource Executive (05/21/12) Michael O’Brien

Recent jobs-report figures from the U.S. Department of Labor show that workers aged 55 years and older may be making a better argument for their employment than their slightly younger competitors. According to DOL’s March 2012 figures, those older workers gained 2.8 million jobs since March 2010, compared to a net job loss of 258,000 for workers between the ages of 45 and 54 during that same time period.

John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, says such figures should not come as a surprise. “The 55-plus population is expanding rapidly and, whether by choice or by necessity, many of these older workers plan on working beyond the traditional retirement age of 65,” he notes. Though some of these older workers are continuing in the occupations and industries where they spent most of their careers, many others are starting entirely new career paths. “Because they may be more willing to work fewer hours or accept lower pay in exchange for better health benefits,” Challenger says, “employers are welcoming these older job seekers.”

Despite the advantages that many older workers offer to employers, Challenger says the labor market is more positive for recent college graduates than in the past few years. “Each year, we continue to see improvement in the college-graduate job market,” he says. “Last year was slightly better than 2010, and this year should be slightly better than 2011.”

New York Times (05/21/12) Shaila Dewan; Robert Gebeloff

Workplace gender patterns have shifted during the past 10 years, with more men working in jobs dominated by women, such as dental assistants, registered nurses, public school teachers, and bank tellers. Nearly 33% of job growth for men from 2000 to 2010 was in occupations that are more than 70% female, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data by the New York Times, with observers noting that these female-dominated professions have been more stable, harder to outsource, and more likely to experience growth in the near term.

Men moving into “pink-collar” jobs from 1970 to 1990 were more likely to be foreign-born, non-English speakers with little education, but Wider Opportunities senior scholar Mary Gatta and Rutgers sociologist Patricia Roos say now they tend to be young white men with college degrees. In addition to stable employment, many men say they are entering these professions because there is little stigma these days and they offer more satisfaction.

Forbes (05/20/12) Joel Shulman

Recent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission show that entrepreneurial companies have been hiring at a red-hot pace, increasing more than 13% over last year’s levels. The rate of growth far outstrips the relatively modest 3% average increase for nonentrepreneurial firms and exceeds the prior year’s entrepreneurial growth rate of 10%. The upbeat news does not appear to be limited to only economic upswings. Striking differences between entrepreneurial and nonentrepreneurial firms exist during economic downturns as well. During the worst part of the 2007-09 recession, for example, entrepreneurial companies actually had modest increases in employment, compared to a significant drop-off for the rest of the market.

PRWeb (05/18/12)

ExecuNet has released its annual Executive Job Market Intelligence Report, which reveals that executive recruiters are more positive than they have been in the past five years. Despite continuing slow growth for the overall economy, 25% of companies are expected to add new executive positions in 2012. Executive recruiters are more positive than they have been in five years and are expecting an average 21% gain in executive search assignments in 2012 compared with last year.

The top industry growth sectors for executive hiring show continued strength in health care, technology, and life sciences, but major gains are also expected for the manufacturing, business services, and consumer products sectors in 2012. The top regional growth areas are now the Northeast and the Southwest. ExecuNet’s market research finds that more than one-quarter of employers are adding new management positions and more than half of employers are selectively “trading up” with new hires for existing executive roles to fill gaps or improve teams.