Competition, growth and digital dirt to define '07 job market

Web Watch

Is 2007 the year you start a new career? Get a raise?

As we enter this new year, ExecuNet, an executive career, business and recruiting network, forecasts key trends poised to shape the workplace in 2007. And their bottom line: With the U.S. unemployment rate at its lowest level in 5 years, a very competitive market for talent promises to provide ample opportunities and challenges to both companies and candidates.

• New competition for talent yields better pay packages: With executive talent in high demand for a 4th consecutive year, companies will continue to add more incentives, including bigger bonuses, to their compensation packages to lure top talent from competitors and keep key leaders from walking out the door. The use of options and equity is also likely to climb significantly in the year ahead, as recent gains for stocks increase their appeal.

• Merger and acquisition activity will be no match for mid-cap business growth: Despite increasing merger and acquisition activity among corporate giants, which often leads to layoffs as companies consolidate their payrolls to eliminate overlap, the demand for executive talent will increase to new levels as small and medium-sized businesses continue to create a steady stream of new job opportunities across nearly all industries and functions.

• Strong job growth for the health care sector: While many investors already sold their health care stocks amid fears that a Democratic majority in Congress will hurt the industry's growth, there are about 76 million reasons (& baby boomers) to expect the health care industry to create more six-figure job opportunities than any other. The employment markets in the business services, financial service and high-tech industries also will tighten as the war for talent heats up.

• Despite demographics, the gray ceiling won't fall: With many baby boomers rapidly approaching retirement, the supply of talent will shrink considerably in the years ahead. While this alarming trend should have companies rethinking their approach to attracting and retaining executive talent in 2007, for the majority, it will be business as usual. In 2006, nearly three-in-four (74%) executives over the age of 50 believed they would be discriminated against on the basis of their age and more than half (58 percent) believed their age had disqualified them as a candidate for opportunities in the past.

• The number of job searches buried by "digital dirt" will rise: As the popularity of social networking sites, blogs and online forums increase, a growing number of hiring managers will turn to Internet search engines in an attempt to gain a more complete picture of job seekers.

In 2006, ExecuNet's exclusive research revealed that more than one-third (35%) of executive recruiters who used the Internet to research candidates eliminated someone from consideration based on information uncovered online, up from just 26% in 2005. Given the long shelf life of Internet content and the growing number of employers that are turning to the Web to learn more about job candidates, ExecuNet predicts the number of job seekers that are prejudged or eliminated due to this "digital dirt" will climb even higher in 2007.