Fewer human resource professionals feel positive about the fourth-quarter jobs market in comparison to 2010, finds a report by the Society for Human Resource Management.

Although nearly 60 percent of employees say they feel passionate about their current positions, most are not working their dream jobs, according to a Kenexa and Salary.com survey.

For the second straight year, more employers are having trouble identifying and retaining critical-skill workers, according to a new survey from Towers Watson and WorldatWork.

According to the Randstad Employee Confidence Index, worker confidence grew by 3.8 points in September after three consecutive months of decline.

Milwaukee-based ManpowerGroup says statistics should be revised from the zero growth rate in August to instead reflect a gain of 57,000 jobs, with the temporary staffing industry creating 53,000 jobs over the last three months.

The average base salary for a CEO is $338,300 per year, an uptick of 1.6 percent from last year, according to the Executive Compensation 2011/2012 survey by Compdata Surveys.

Hiring this month is expected to be even weaker than in October 2010, especially with the difficulties in recruiting and higher compensation levels, according to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management.

Middle market firms have remained resilient throughout the down economy, according to a study by Ohio State Universitys Fisher College of Business and GE Capital.