If you're in sales and IT, now's the time to look for that dream job. A CareerBuilder survey finds that these two disciplines will be the most sought-after in 2014 by those planning to build staff.
But if you're in HR or R&D, learn to love your current job. Those are the two lowest-priority positions to fill for 2014.
CareerBuilder sought input from more than 2,000 professionals engaged in the hiring process. A quarter of those surveyed cited current debt level negotiations taking place in Washington as an "uncertainty" in their planning, and the percent who said they planned to increase their permanent, fulltime staff dropped from 26 percent a year ago to 24 percent this time around.
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But a glance at their hiring wish list paints a portrait of companies ready to make more money in 2014. Their highest priority hires:
- Sales, 30 percent
- IT, 29 percent
- Customer service, 25 percent
- Production, 24 percent
Meantime, a look at the positions they're not as eager to fill suggests selling the goods and services they already make is the No. 1 objective in 2014.
Lowest priority hires:
- HR, 10 percent
- R&D, 13 percent
- Accounting/finance, 15 percent
- Biz Dev, 17 percent
- Marketing, 17 percent
- Engineering, 17 percent
The survey failed to support the notion that a business community ingesting healthcare reform would replace fulltime workers with part-timers and temps at an alarming rate. Here's what those surveyed told CareerBuilder:
- Part-time hiring plans: 17 percent will hire more (vs. 14 percent last year);
- Temporary and contract workers: 42 percent will hire more (vs. 40 percent last year)
Those increases are a far cry from some of the estimates that have been tossed around in the last year.
Overall, CareerBuilder cited four major hiring trends in 2014:
1. More companies plan to onshore jobs (26 percent vs. 23 percent in 2013).
2. 51 percent of just the HR managers surveyed reported having open jobs they can't find qualified workers to fill, and 46 percent said the positions go three or more months without being filled.
3. 49 percent of employers will train workers without the experience to fill these jobs, compared to 39 percent in 2013.
4. 25 percent intend to promote their career opportunities to high school students.
"The general sentiment shared by employers whom CareerBuilder talks to every day is that there will be a better job market in 2014," said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. "What we saw in our survey was reluctance from some employers to commit to adding jobs until the outcomes of debt negotiations and other issues affecting economic expansion are clearer. As these stories play out and employers find their footing in the New Year, there is greater potential for the average monthly job creation in 2014 to exceed that of 2013."
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
