Compensation Rises

What will 2017 bring? The just released 2016 SelectLeaders Network Job Barometer Q3 Update charted a data pattern unseen since 2007. For the first time since the Global Financial Crisis, rather than jobs and applications increasing neck and neck, a gaping gap appeared between available jobs and applications. A gap which mirrors what we saw in 2007 when increasingly sought-after, choosey candidates negotiated the highest compensation levels in a decade. Last Friday’s Labor Department October Jobs Report confirms the trend the Job Barometer predicts, “The largest annual rise since 2009, 2.8% year-over-year jump in average hourly earnings for private sector workers.” Not at 2007 levels, because in 2016 uncertainty still prevails, but for job seekers it’s the best sellers’ market since 2007. By the numbers, in 2016, an average of twenty-four job seekers would visit a job posting for each application submitted. These numbers are far below 2007, with 54 visitors for each resume submitted – and salaries rose accordingly.