As its economy recovers from the global recession, the U.S. begins a slow but steady hiring trend across most job sectors

By Guest Author, Mary Anne Thompson, Founder and President, Going Global, Inc. (www.goinglobal.com)

After at least two years of suffering through rounds of layoffs, staff deficiencies and financial uncertainty due to the global recession, American businesses are finally hiring again. Though most regions of the country are still not seeing significant hiring yet, the U.S. is cautiously optimistic about its future. According to economic experts, it may take the country three-to-four years to return to pre-recession employment levels, but certain sectors are wasting no time beefing up staff now that they have the green light to hire.

Statistics show healthcare support occupations have already experienced major increases in hiring activity over the last several months. Of the 20 fastest-growing occupations in the U.S. economy, half are related to health care, due in large part to the aging of the baby boomer generation. In addition, as health care costs continue to rise, work is increasingly being delegated to lower-paid workers in order to save money. Physician assistants, medical assistants, dental hygienists, home health workers and physical therapist aides are in demand throughout the U.S. Many other job sectors have also experienced consistent hiring increases of at least 10% in the first half of 2010. Chief among these are the customer service, sales, information technology, administration, business development and accounting/finance sectors.

In the area of accounting and finance, tax accountants, compliance directors and credit managers are most in demand as businesses seek financial professionals who can help manage costs and enhance profitability as the country exits the recession. In the area of IT, professionals who areable to tie IT initiatives to larger business objectives, helping their firms become more efficient and reduce costs, are most in demand. Network administrators, information systems security managers and systems engineers are among the most advertised positions.

While there are abundant needs in certain established industries, many new hires will also be for emerging industries. Hiring managers, 41% of whom plan to hire within the next six months, are recruiting for jobs focused on new areas such as social media, green energy, global relations and healthcare reform.

Twenty-two percent of employers report some hiring will also be for unfilled positions for which they have been unable to find qualified candidates. The areas of IT, customer service and communications report the greatest skills deficits. Many companies have begun to look for creative ways to fill these and other positions. Some are looking to skilled freelance or contract workers to move their businesses forward. By going this route, companies alleviate the cost of hiring full-time workers before the economy is more stable. Some businesses are choosing to rehire retirees, while still others are looking beyond the U.S. to find needed talent.

Looking outside U.S. borders will also help to diversify a company’s work force, something many American businesses would like to do. In order to attract talent, many U.S. companies also plan to provide new employees with greater flexibility in hopes this will help retain those who may consider switching jobs when the economy fully recovers.

Graduate hiring
While hiring is increasing across the country and in many sectors, those fresh out of school still may have trouble securing a job quickly. A recent report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) finds companies surveyed expect to hire fewer graduates from the class of 2010. Starting salary offers for new graduates are also down. CareerBuilder.com sees salaries and benefits, for new and current employees, continuing to stay tight over the next year. It may take a while before companies feel secure enough to give employees a bump up in pay.

As the U.S. begins to recover from the economic recession, its businesses are focused on rehiring laid-off workers, replacing lower-performing employees and steadily expanding their work forces. Every region of the country has increased its hiring activity by approximately 20% over the last six months. Employment services industry leader Manpower Inc. reports 95 of the nation’s 100 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas have a positive hiring outlook for the upcoming quarter. Expectations are American businesses will continue their hiring trend well into the foreseeable future.

Mary Anne Thompson is the Founder and President of Going Global, Inc. (www.goinglobal.com) a subscription database service that contains career and employment information for more than 80 locations. More than one million users enjoy Going Global’s unique content, which is researched in-country by local career experts and updated annually. Previously, Mary Anne served as an attorney and advisor to President Ronald Reagan in the White House.

What GRE changes mean to you: Success at a keystroke?

Of all of the changes to the GRE, the one that excites most students is the addition of an onscreen calculator on Test Day. They are elated at the prospect of a reduced need for scratch paper, not to mention the reduced likelihood of errors caused by freehand number crunching. Today’s students are, of course, generally comfortable with new technological solutions to a challenge, and many students are inclined to welcome them unquestioningly.

At the same time, ETS is almost certainly looking forward to the calculator as a clear point of differentiation between the GRE and the test whose business the GRE is looking to steal a big chunk of: the calculator-free, scratchwork-dependent GMAT.

Yet it’s possible that, for examinees at least, the calculator will not be an unmixed blessing. For one thing, it’s quite likely that the GRE testmakers will write problems with the calculator in mind. Quantitative Comparisons will doubtless involve more variable manipulation, bringing them closer (interestingly enough) to Data Sufficiency “Yes/No” questions on the GMAT. In a similar vein, Problem Solving questions are likely to get tougher now that the writers can incorporate more complex calculations than before. It’s a good bet that when the dust settles after a few months, GRE watchers will agree that the difficulty level of the Quantitative Section will have risen, perhaps significantly so.

At the same time, there will surely be many GRE math problems that don’t lend themselves to calculator use. Those students who unquestioningly welcome technological means can be expected to rush to the calculator, even when doing so is inappropriate or when calculating by hand would actually be faster. All standardized tests are set up to reward examinees for their number cleverness, not for a lumbering cranking out of solutions, and sometimes on the new GRE it will simply be cleverer not to use the calculator.

So will the calculator have an effect on scores? If so, the effect isn’t likely to be profound, once the problems themselves are adjusted to compensate for the ability to make quicker calculations. Thinking – that is, the ability to decide the best approach for a given problem at a given moment – will remain the skill the GRE is most eager to assess, a trait it shares with the business school entrance exam that GRE hopes to supplant.

In my final posting, I’ll turn my attention to the forthcoming changes in the Analytical Writing Assessment.

Video 6 in a series of official excerpts from the Kaplan GMAT program. Working with actual numbers helps turn tricky questions into straightforward algebra. The instructor is Jenny Lynch - over 600 students taught and counting.