Middle Skills Job Growth Seen

The Staffing View

On business, the workplace and employee relations

February, 2011

Micro Tech’s Featured Jobs Openings for December

Staff Accountant, Braintree, MA

Salary: $22 per hour

In this general staff accountant position responsibilities include performing month-end general ledger reconciliations to ensure accurate monthly recognition and reporting of complex accruals and associated expenses Candidates should have a working knowledge of GAAP principles, as well as experience doing account reconciliation, financial reporting and financial statement production for a corporate entity

Analytics Manager, Boston

Salary: up to $105,000

The analytics manager will lead a 15-person team in market research and reporting  Candidates should have experience with web analytics tools such as Google analytics, Coremetrics, and others; as well as experience managing a team

Oracle/SQL Server DBA, Lawrence, MA

Salary: up to $118,000

Experienced SQL Server DBA sought with some Oracle experience (SQL Server 2008 and Oracle 11g)

Opportunity Exists Among Middle-Skill Jobs

Job seekers with a high school education but who lack a four-year college degree take heart You fall into a category known as “middle skill” and you’ll be in high demand during the next several years, according to one national report

Despite the recession and the sluggish recovery, a study by the National Skills Coalition claims there is continued demand for workers to fill jobs in the middle of the labor market – those that require more than high school but less than a four-year degree National Skills Coalition is Washington, DC-based coalition of employers, unions, education and training providers, and public officials promoting workforce development

The NSC study initially was released in 2007, but has been updated to reflect changes caused by the recession For example, the NSC says more than 396,000 middle-skill job openings are projected for Massachusetts by 2016 Those openings include licensed practical nurses with median annual earnings of $49,490; and computer support specialists with median yearly income of $54,810

The study defines three classes of workers:

• High-skill occupations are those in the professional/technical and managerial categories


• Low-skill occupations are those in the service and agricultural categories


• Middle-skill occupations are the others, including clerical, sales, construction, installation/repair, production, and transportation/material moving

The analysis for the Massachusetts study was performed by National Skills Coalition using data from the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, American Community Survey and state labor market data from the Massachusetts Department of Workforce Development

Prior to the national recession, many states were experiencing shortages of middle-skill workers in crucial industries, according to the study In Massachusetts, for example, about 45 percent of all jobs are classified as middle-skill, but only 32 percent of Massachusetts workers likely have the credentials to fill them As the recovery continues that shortage will likely return, creating problems for employers but opportunities for those workers who have the skills

How to Recover from On-The-Job Blunders

Whether you’re a new hire at a company after months in a job search or a veteran in your firm, it’s not unusual to make a mistake on the job Mistakes that have to do with executing a task, collaborating with a coworker, playing a part in a team, leading a group or whatever – the list is practically endless The consequences of some are more severe than others in the way they impact people or the business And when they occur they reflect back on you in some way How should you handle it?

According to Amy Gallo of the Harvard Business Review, don’t panic Mistakes on the job happen What’s important to recognize is that there’s no reason you should be branded by them or consider them career-killers The old saying that we “learn from our mistakes” is as true on the job as it is with kids in a classroom

Gallo spoke with a number of work and career experts who pointed out that mistakes can happen when people are trying new things on the job Often they can lay the foundation for innovation that will lead to benefits for the company It’s important not to allow mistakes to overshadow positive decisions one has made Similarly, reviewing the error is educational, but dwelling on it is nonproductive As Gallo writes, “learn from them and move on” From her interviews, Gallo developed some guiding principles

Acknowledge your mistake

It's critical to be candid and own up to the error Don't try to blame others If what you’ve done has harmed someone else or interfered in their work, apologize But then focus on the future How will you fix your mistake and what will you do differently in the future?

Change your ways

"The best kind of mistake is where the costs are low but the learning is high," according to one consultant If you make a poor decision, explain to your boss and anyone else who needs to know how you’ll avoid making a similar misstep in the future But don’t wait You’ll gain respect and inspire confidence by being up front about what went wrong and demonstrating that you understand why it happened

Turn to a support network

Colleagues and friends in and outside of your company can make good sounding boards when you are trying to fix something that went wrong How do they see what has happened and what do they think would be a good way to bounce back?

Have confidence in yourself

So you goofed You’ve recognized that, talked about it with others and considered how you’ll avoid repeating the same in the future Now you need to move forward without second-guessing yourself  If you think people are in doubt about your abilities, start rebuilding their confidence through small steps Many employers make note of how well people recover back from their mistakes

 

Staffing Industry Prospers in 2010

There were worse industries to be part of in 2010 than the staffing industry In a year when the economy grew at an agonizingly slow pace and the jobless rate remained high, staffing firms finished 2010 with 161 percent more employees than in December of 2009 At Microtech Staffing Group, our sales for 2010 were up 60 percent compared to 2009

Joseph Donahue, president of Microtech, said that 2010 “was a very strong year for us We kept in close contact with our customers during the recession while also recruiting more skilled professionals Since the recovery started we’ve been able to place the right personnel in positions where they’re helping our clients and finding rewarding work”

According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the staffing industry added nearly 16,000 new jobs during December and about 495,000 new jobs during  the past 15 months since resuming growth in October 2009

“The much needed jobs recovery remained largely elusive in 2010 as businesses cautiously and strategically added to their flexible and permanent work forces,” said Richard Wahlquist, president and CEO of the American Staffing Association “Staffing firms continue to report that demand is steadily increasing across many sectors, an indicator that the economy is moving in the right direction Many of the individuals working as temporary employees will be at the front of the line as businesses start ramping up the size of their permanent talent pools”

What makes this good news for the rest of the economy and not just staffing firms, is that the staffing industry is considered a leading economic indicator The logic is that as employers see business conditions improving they add to their workforce through temporary employees As they grow more confident in the economy and their business prospects, they add more permanent payroll positions, often converting their temporary employees to permanent hires