RICHMOND, Va. -- The news for seasonal, hourly workers this summer is upbeat, with hiring managers surveyed across all channels having more positive news for job-seeking teens this year, according to a study released today.
For c-store operators looking to solidify hourly labor pools for the busy summer-driving months, study researchers said starting early may prove important this year.
"Employers are going to have to start hiring earlier if they want to be competitive," said Rick Parker, senior vice president of marketing, for Richmond, Va.-based Snagajob, which commissioned the study. He told CSP Daily News that the hiring managers surveyed will be recruiting and hiring on an earlier timetable.
With more than 200,000 jobs added to U.S. payrolls in each of the last three months, seasonal hiring is predicted to be at levels similar to last year and much improved from the recession, according to the report released by Snagajob, an employment network and human-resource software provider. What's more, hiring is expected to occur earlier in the season and teens will largely compete against themselves for jobs, with fewer experienced workers looking for summer employment.
Some points made in the report include the following:
- 13% of summer hiring managers filled their positions in February (up 1 point).
- 11% will complete their hiring this month (up 2 points).
- Looking toward April, 23% will finish hiring next month (up a 1 point).
- All told, 79% of summer hiring will be complete by the end of May.
Snagajob, one of the largest hourly employment networks for job seekers and employers, commissioned its fifth-annual survey of more than 1,000 hourly hiring managers with responsibility for summer hiring. The survey, conducted by third-party research firm Ipsos Public Affairs, found that hiring managers foresee:
- Hiring levels similar to last year and much improved from the recession. Three in 10 hiring managers expect to hire the same as last year (up 3 points). Similar to last year, one in 10 hiring managers expects to hire more staff. A smaller group of hiring managers (16%) will be hiring fewer workers (down 2 points), trending in the right direction. Slightly less than half (45%) of hiring managers do not intend to make any hires, which is consistent with last year's findings.
- Looking back at the recession in 2008, hiring plans have improved significantly. At that time, 49% of hiring managers did not intend to make any hires, four points worse than the past two years.
- Competition returning to normal. The past four years of the Snagajob survey had shown a decline in the number of hiring managers believing that the greatest competition a teen or college student would face for a summer job would be from someone like themselves. But this year, that's changing. More hiring managers (57%) now believe that other high school or college students will offer the biggest challenge (up 6 points). Added to that, three in 10 (29%) hiring managers believe it will be "easy" for teens to find a summer job this year, up nine points over the last two years.
- Flat wages. Hiring managers with plans to hire expect to pay an average of $10.90 per hour, statistically unchanged from last year.
"There's been pick up in the job market lately, and with that, the Snagajob summer job survey shows improving employer confidence because of hiring levels steady with or incrementally better than last year, a tendency to hire earlier and the belief that teens will handle more of the summer job market versus more experienced workers," Shawn Boyer, CEO of Snagajob, said in a statement. "With less competition from older workers anticipated, wages are expected to be flat; however, teens who want a job should be aggressive and start looking as soon as possible."
Job seekers who will be on the hunt this summer should bring a trifecta of key attributes to the table, although the most important--No. 1 for the first time in the survey's history--is the ability to work a schedule that a manager needs (32%), followed very closely by a positive attitude (29%). At 26%, previous experience is the next quality that hiring managers are looking for.
And in another consistency from previous years, hiring managers will depend on employees who have worked for them in previous summers; 65% of summer staff will be returning workers. This figure has been steady across the five-year survey.
This online survey was conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs, a third-party research firm with offices in Washington, D.C., and many other cities, on behalf of Snagajob from Feb. 22-27, 2012. Respondents included 1,073 hiring managers with responsibility for hiring summer, seasonal employees paid by the hour. The margin of error for the entire survey is 2.99% at a 95% confidence level. The margin of error for the sub-population of hiring managers who said they would be hiring summer employees (593 respondents) is 4.02%. Similarly, the margin of error for hiring managers who said they will not be hiring (480 respondents) is 4.47%. This is the fifth year that this survey was conducted.
Snagajob is a provider both sourcing and talent management solutions to the hourly industry. With more than 30 million registered job seekers and the leading hourly-focused talent management system, Snagajob has been helping hourly workers and those who employ them since 2000.
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