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"Big Data" Brings Big Hiring for Analytical Skills

By Abby Lombardi on February 21, 2012 in Occupations.

Companies are collecting more and more information every day – growing by 50% every year and doubling every 2 years. Management firm McKinsey puts the United States on track to face a shortage by 2018 of 140,000 – 190,000 people with much-needed analytical skills, in addition to 1.5 million managers (and analysts) that use these analyses to make daily business decisions. With all this talk about data analysis, we thought we would take a look at job ads that specifically require in-depth analytical skills.

We found more than 18,000 job ads posted online during January 2012 that required data analysis skills – a 35% increase compared to January 2011 and about 75% growth versus the same month in 2010. The volume and growth suggests that many companies are trying to address this hiring trend early and demand is likely to continue.

Volume of Job Ads that Require Data Analytic Skills – 4 Year Hiring Trend

Hiring Demand for Data Analytics Skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

The occupations that most often demand in-depth analytical skills include:

  • Computer Systems Analysts
  • Management Analysts
  • Market Research Analysts
  • Software Engineers (Applications)
  • Industrial Engineers
  • Operations Research Analysts

All of these occupations have seen year-over-year growth in hiring demand for these skills. More than 3,600 job ads were placed in January for Computer Systems Analysts – the most of any occupation and growing 45% compared to last year. Metropolitan areas with the highest volume of job listings for in-depth analytical skills during January 2012 were New York (New York), Washington (DC), San Francisco (California), Los Angeles (California), and Boston (Massachusetts).

If your company is one of the 5,500 organizations that placed job ads for these skills in January, you are likely to find openings difficult-to-recruit. According to the Hiring Scale™, companies in San Francisco are currently experiencing more difficult conditions when recruiting candidates with analytical backgrounds. Hiring demand in San Francisco continues to grow (up about 23% compared to January 2011), while the local talent pool of qualified data-savvy professionals is not growing at the same pace. Employers in this area are likely to compete heavily to attract qualified talent and experience a longer time-to-fill than other areas across the United States.

Hiring Scale for Data Analytics Skills – San Franciso, CA vs. Nationally

Hiring Scale for Data Analysts in San Francisco

Source: WANTED Analytics

In comparison, the Hiring Scale also shows that the best markets for recruiting analytical skills are St. Joseph (Missouri), El Paso (Texas), and Tucson (Arizona). These areas are likely to fill job openings faster than the rest of the United States, since hiring demand is low compared to the available talent supply. The average time-to-fill in some of these locations shorter by as much as 2 weeks, which will save companies time and money spent on recruiting talent.

Hiring Scale for Data Analytics Skills – St. Joseph, MO vs. Nationally

Hiring Scale for Data Analytics Skills in St. Joseph, MO

Source: WANTED Analytics

Do you have job openings that require in-depth analytical skills? Find out how conditions compare in your area with the free Hiring Scale™. We'll show you who you are competing with for talent, average salary information, and where you can find sources of candidates.

Hiring for Social Media Skills Begins 2012 at New Highs

By Abby Lombardi on February 16, 2012 in Advertising/Marketing, Occupations.

Now that we are more than halfway through February, we thought we'd review hiring demand for social media skills. It's been a while since we reported on demand and supply of this talent, and we wanted to see if it is still a prevalent skill being listed in job ads.

During January 2012, there were about 13,000 job ads posted online that included job requirements involving social media skills. This is an 87% increase compared to the volume of ads in January 2011. Despite some declines in the volume of ads in November and December (likely just a seasonal trend), hiring has steadily increased over the past few year and has now hit a new high. We think it is safe to say that social media is not "just a trend" and that this will continue as more business functions adopt social strategies.

Hiring Demand for Social Media Skills – 4 Year Hiring Trend

Hiring Demand for Social Media skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

As we see more social media platforms and ways to engage an audience online, the roles that demand these skills are changing. Marketing Managers and Public Relations Specialists are the 2 most common jobs that include this requirement in job ads. Marketers account for about 2,600 of the job ads at a 58% year-over-year increase. PR Managers and Specialists saw about 1,500 job ads, also increasing about 57% compared to January 2011.  Other common fields to require social media knowledge or experience in their job listings were Web Developers, Sales Representatives, Market Research Analysts, Recruiters, Software Engineers, Advertising Sales Agents, and Executive Secretaries or Administrative Assistants. These occupations also saw year-over-year increases in hiring demand. Sales Managers grew by more than 500% between January 2011 and January 2012 – the most of any occupation. Recruiters saw the second highest increase, up 131%.

Our Hiring Scale™ shows that social media skills are still moderately difficult to recruit. However, the degree of difficulty will vary by location depending on local talent supply and hiring demand. For example, Recruiters in Houston are likely to find these jobs harder than average to fill. The average duration of a job ad in Houston is 45 days – or just less than 7 weeks. In comparison, the average posting period across the US is about 6 weeks.

Hiring Scale for Social Media Skills in Houston, Texas

Hiring Scale for social media skills in Houston

Source: WANTED Analytics

Want to know where the best markets to recruit social media talent are? Check back tomorrow when we take a look at where you should be sourcing your talent from!

Are you recruiting for social media savvy talent? Try our free online Hiring Scale to see how conditions compare in your area, average salary ranges, and who you are competing with for talent!

Hiring Demand for Cloud Computing Skills Grows Beyond IT Jobs

By Abby Lombardi on January 5, 2012 in Occupations.

We've reported through 2011 that cloud computing is one of the most demanded IT skills. However, cloud computing hasn't just changed the skills being required for IT. Other functions across businesses are being impacted. In this blog post, we took a look at hiring demand and recruiting conditions for other occupations that commonly require cloud experience and knowledge in their online job ads.

Overall, hiring demand for cloud skills for jobs that aren't IT-related has been strong. In the past 90 days, there have been about 3,300 job ads posted online by employers and staffing firms, representing a 70% year-over-year growth. (There were about 6,800 IT jobs with cloud computing skill requirements during the same period – about a 53% year-over-year increase.) The 10 occupations with most demand for cloud skills that are not IT related are below. Of these, 9 saw year-over-year increases with Sales Representatives of Services seeing the most job ads and the most growth. Marketing Managers had the second highest demand for cloud computing skills. There weren't any job ads for Cargo and Freight Agents that required cloud skills last year, therefore a percent change can not be determined. The only occupation on this list to see a decline was General Operations Managers, which saw 4.8% fewer job ads this year that required cloud computing skills or experience.

Occupation Number of Job Ads % Change vs. Last Year
Sales Representatives, Services 486 +252.2%
Marketing Managers 484 +26.7%
Cargo and Freight Agents 400 –
Sales Managers 290 +40.1%
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing,
Technical and Scientific Products		 254 +50.3%
Sales Engineers 184 +52.1%
Management Analysts 57 +78.1%
Market Research Analysts 54 +107.7%
First-line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers 45 +45.2%
General Operations Managers 40 -4.8%

According to our Hiring Scale™, Sales Managers with cloud skills are likely to be the most difficult to fill of the above 10 occupations. There are about 14 qualified potential candidates in the workforce for every job ad currently advertised online. To put this in another perspective, our Candidate Supply charts estimate that 2.8% of all Sales Managers currently in the US workforce have cloud computing knowledge, experience, or skills. It's likely that employers sourcing for these skills will compete heavily to fill job openings.

Candidate Supply of Sales Managers with Cloud Computing Skills and Experience

candidate supply of sales managers with cloud computing skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

In comparison, Management Analysts are likely to be the easiest to fill of the above 10 occupations. The talent pool for this occupation consists of about 60 qualified potential candidates for every job opening. It's likely that Recruiters will see less competition when sourcing candidates for these open jobs.

Although Sales Managers with cloud computing knowledge may be hard to recruit on average, there are some locations that will experience easier conditions. Our Hiring Scale shows the 5 metropolitan areas with the highest volume of job ads are:

  1. Seattle, Washington
  2. Dallas, Texas
  3. San Francisco, California
  4. San Jose, California
  5. Chicago, Illinois

In these locations, the talent pool of qualified Sales Managers consists of up to 30 candidates per advertised job. Recruiters that are able to source from these locations may be able to find additional candidates and reduce their time-to-fill.

Hiring Scale of Sales Managers with Cloud Computing Skills in Seattle, WA (Easiest to Fill Location)

Hiring Scale for Sales Managers with Cloud Skills in Seattle

Source: WANTED Analytics

Are you recruiting for cloud computing skills? Sign up for a free trial of WANTED Analytics to see what hiring demand is like in your area, how large the talent pool is, and where you can find hidden sources of candidates.

Demand for Social Media Skills Still Growing

By Abby Lombardi on December 2, 2011 in Hiring Demand Indicators.

From the FTC's privacy settlement with Facebook to Google+ making business pages available, social media has been a major topic in recent news. These recent announcements and changes are likely to change the way businesses use social media as a strategy to connect with current and potential customers, and employers have not slowed their demand for professionals with social media skills. Hiring for social media skills continues to grow, with almost 9,000 new online job ads for this skill set over the past 30 days – a 48% increase versus the same time period in 2010.

Hiring Demand for Social Media Skills – 4 Years

Hiring Demand for Social Media Skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

Below is a list of the 10 occupations that saw the highest volume of job ads with social media experience requirements. Not surprisingly, job ads for marketing and public relations positions most commonly include these skill requirements. It also seems that sales professionals are more frequently being required to connect with their customers online. The volume of job ads for Sales Representatives of Services and Financial Services saw the largest year-over-year growth of the below list.

Occupation Volume of Job Ads % Change vs. 2010
Marketing Managers 1,561 +0.3%
Public Relations Specialists 1,014 +16.3%
Sales Representatives, Services 954 +1,734.6%
Web Developers 835 +21.7%
Public Relations Managers 539 +43.7%
Advertising Sales Agents 362 +122.1%
Market Research Analysts 351 +7.7%
Personnel Recruiters 282 +65.9%
Sales Agents, Financial Services 273 +13,550.0%
Computer Software Engineers, Applications 255 +32.8%

We used our Hiring Scale™ to look at the locations that are currently experiencing the easiest recruiting conditions for each of these 10 occupations. If you're sourcing for candidates with social media experience, try looking for potential candidates in these areas since the talent supply is larger in relation to the hiring demand.

Hiring Scale for Marketing Managers with Social Media Skills – Dayton, Ohio

Hiring Scale for Marketing Managers with Social Media Skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

Hiring Scale for Public Relations Specialists with Social Media Skills – Denver, Colorado

Hiring Scale for Public Relations Specialists with Social Media Skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

Hiring Scale for Sales Representatives, Services with Social Media Skills – Portland, Oregon

Hiring Scale for Sales Reps, Services with Social Media Skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

Hiring Scale for Web Developers with Social Media Skills – Jacksonville, Florida

Hiring Scale for Web Developers with Social Media Skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

Hiring Scale for Public Relations Managers with Social Media Skills – Detroit, Michigan

Hiring Scale for Public Relations Managers with Social Media Skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

Hiring Scale for Advertising Sales Agents with Social Media Skills – Denver, Colorado

Hiring Scale for Ad Sales Managers with Social Media Skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

Hiring Scale for Market Research Analysts with Social Media Skills – Stamford, Connecticut

Hiring Scale for Market Research Analysts with Social Media Skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

Hiring Scale for Personnel Recruiters with Social Media Skills – Cleveland, Ohio

Hiring Scale for Recruiters with Social Media Skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

Hiring Scale for Sales Agents, Financial Services with Social Media Skills – Omaha, Nebraska

Hiring Scale for Sales Reps, Financial Services with Social Media Skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

Hiring Scale for Computer Software Engineers, Applications with Social Media Skills – Atlanta, Georgia

Hiring Scale for Software Engineers with Social Media Skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

Are you recruiting for social media skills for these or any other occupation? Sign up for a free trial of WANTED Analytics™ to see how recruiting conditions compare in your area, find hidden candidate pools, and fill openings faster.

Demand for E-Commerce Skills Increases 26%

By Abby Lombardi on November 18, 2011 in Hiring Demand Indicators, Occupations.

According to a Wall Street Journal article this week, employers are seeking to recruit executives with e-commerce skills. In today's digital marketplace, many companies – especially retailers – are developing strategies to grow online sales and compete with the "web giants." In this blog, we took a look at the volume of job ads that include e-commerce requirements to see what hiring demand looks like.

First of all, demand has been strong in 2011, reaching a 4-year high in May with more than 9,500 jobs posted online. Since then however, demand has declined slowly. In October, Recruiters placed about 6,000 new job listings that included e-commerce skills, up 26% year-over-year. There were about 1,300 employers that included e-commerce specifications in their job ads during October. (In comparison, there were about 1,100 employers advertising for these skills in October 2010.) Some companies that placed the most ads with e-commerce specifications included Deloitte, AT&T, IBM, Amazon, Macy's, Microsoft, and Staples.

Hiring Demand for E-Commerce Skills – 4 Years

Hiring Demand for E-Commerce Skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

It isn't surprising that many of the jobs being posted are for various tech and developer positions. In fact, 56% of the jobs during October were for tech positions – with Web Developers, Computer Systems Analysts, and Software Engineers (applications) at the top. Other commonly advertised jobs were for Marketers, Management Analysts, Market Research Analysts, Accountants, Graphics Designers, and Customer Service Representatives. Even some job ads for Recruiters included requirements for past experience with sourcing for e-commerce skills.

Recruiting conditions in different locations will vary, since hiring demand and talent supply changes from city to city. For example, the highest growth in demand was seen in Pittsburgh, Houston, Charlotte, and Cleveland – all of which experienced triple digit year-over-year growth in ad volume. Of these cities with high growth, our Hiring Scale™ shows that Recruiters in Pittsburgh are likely to see the most difficult recruiting conditions. The talent pool in this area consists of about 18 potential candidates in the workforce for every job advertised, which is lower than the national average of 24 candidates. Recruiters in Pittsburgh also keep job ads online longer, with an average posting period of 44 days.

Hiring Scale for Candidates with E-Commerce Skills

Hiring Scale for E-Commerce Professionals

Source: WANTED Analytics

Are you recruiting for e-commerce skill sets? Sign up for a free trial of WANTED Analytics™ to see how conditions compare in your area and find hidden candidate pools for hard-to-fill jobs.

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