Charlotte's Job Market: An Insider's View

Earlier this week, I spent time chatting with Patty Comer and Amy Nolan, owners of Charlotte-based AccruePartners, the employment and recruitment firm. If you've been following local and state jobless numbers, you'll likely find their upbeat view of the market to be, let's say, contrarian.

Along with the highly abbreviated Q&A that published in today's paper, I figured some of you might appreciate their deeper view of Charlotte's job market. So, here goes...

The agency says it's not hearing “we are not hiring right now”. The employment market in Charlotte is great for those with skills, education and the superior American work ethic.
What we do hear is:
· We expect to hire at a specific time frame
· We have seen an increase in our business and need to hire
· We have an investment in IT upgrades and will be hiring
· We’ve just gotten a resignation
· We unsuccessfully outsourced to India or the Philippines and we need to bring back those positions in-house.

The firm says it has:
· has seen an increase in perm placement revenue by 145%
· has seen an increase in contract/temporary to hire revenue by 39%
· Industry indicators had projected temporary to increase a higher rate as jobs came back but the firm have not seen that to be true in Charlotte.
· After 9 years in business the firm have seen the strongest 6 month run rate in the history of our business

2. Technical Skills a miss match in the market
· Very few of the firm's positions are being filled by the long-term unemployed. The talent that was truly laid off late in the recession are now getting absorbed very quickly as they still have the skills that employers are requiring.

· Required skills are truly that “required”. Companies no longer have the leisure to train for specific software skills or industry expertise. What they need they need with high levels of expertise. Investment in the employee is described but the employee cannot be a great person with a good resume.

· The currently employed, highly coveted, high achiever is working multiple roles at their current employer and not found seeking a new position via the job boards due to limited time, confidentiality and lack of information provided in a job posting.

3. Candidates and Companies are both very selective

4. Candidates are just as selective as Employers

· The Unemployed:
The high level of weekly payout of NC ESC benefits has allowed candidates an extended period of time to be more selective in their search. Candidates who are not in total financial distress (2nd income earners, those with savings on top of the unemployment check) know that they can take their time and don’t want to be back in the job search mode anytime soon so they are more selective. Many of those on unemployment refuse to take a financial step backward or a longer commute to “just have a job”.

· The Employed:
Currently employed candidates have made it through the recession with their current employer
and want to be confident in their next employer. A compelling story is critical to attracting “A”/High Potential talent and employers are getting better at this. Candidates require information up front on the leadership of the company, growth opportunities, financial position, benefits before engaging in an interview process. Candidates are looking at the whole of the company and aligning themselves to their personal objectives, professional goals and the company’s needs. Bonus opportunities that are clearly defined are critical to candidates.

5. Candidates are restless
· Many employees who considered making a job change in the last 2 years held off and are now restless and ready for change. There is more confidence in the market. The firm is seeing a lot of positions that open due to someone resigning to accept another position elsewhere. Those numbers are not reported in the new job numbers by the Department of Labor as they are not newly created roles but replacements.

6. Where are the new jobs are coming from
· Adding back old head count – due to increased work loads. Most employees were already doing the job of 2+ and to keep productivity and profitability in line with budgets and objectives. The additional head count needed to be added to ensure retention of current team. Employers are realizing they can’t keep piling on the work to existing staff and that there is a breaking point.
· Newly created positions due to increased growth and jobs being retooled/reevaluated. Again, referring to the skills needs. Systems, industry and the ability to communicate are more important than ever.
· Companies expanding into the market and or consolidating roles to the region to capture Charlotte’s attractive human capital.
· Resignations due to movement
· Temp-to-Hire is coming back very strong in the lower level positions under $40,000 per year and professional positions are coming back direct hire.
· Manufacturing sector is hot and hiring across the board consistently for the last year. Positions are technical and very interesting. Analysis of business lines, products to drive the new business economy.

7. Those that aren’t getting hired:

· Candidates who have been the long-term unemployed who have not demonstrated what they have been doing with their time. Did they take courses to improve their situation, volunteer or have a meaningful reason for not working.
· Candidates without communication skills (written and verbal ). Specific examples would be; Candidates without a strategic thought process in their job search, lack the ability to properly network and the lack of follow through to include thank you notes for networking and interviews.
· Candidates who did not invest in software skills while they were gainfully employed are no longer competitive.
· The customer service agent – those jobs are gone and not coming back.