Employment Situation Report for January 2015 Shows Job Gains

The year started off on a good start in January 2015 for job employment, with more than 1 million new jobs in a three-month stretch for the first time in nearly two decades, the LA Times reported; the hiring surge has spurred the best wage gains in more than six years. The 257,000 net new jobs that employers added last month were spread across high- and low-paying industries, the Labor Department said Friday in a report that economists described as overwhelmingly positive. Read more here:

“These are pretty amazing numbers,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts, and the top forecaster of payrolls over the last two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “The January number is strong, but then you’ve got sizzling November and December numbers too. And then you’ve got the wage gains.” More hiring, pay increases and the longest workweek of the expansion are boosting earnings just as inflation ebbs, which will combine to lift household buying power. Read more here:

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in January, health care employment increased by 38,000. Job gains occurred in offices of physicians (+13,000), hospitals (+10,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+7,000). Health care added an average of 26,000 jobs per month in 2014. Professional and technical services added 33,000 jobs in January, including increases in computer systems design (+8,000) and architectural and engineering services (+8,000). 

  

The Professional and technical services industry has also been noted as having the best jobs for 2015, and so with healthcare jobs. However, while workers in the Professional and technical services industry, such as those in accountant jobs, are more likely to get a raise in their pay, the healthcare and social services industry is among the worst industries for raises this year. Read more here:

DiversityWorking Announces New Company Member, Northrop Grumman

DiversityWorking.com, a career opportunity resource and job search engine for the cultural diversity marketplace, is pleased to announced the inclusion of its latest member, NorthropGrumman, to its prestigious roster of diversity companies.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems, cyber, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and commercial customers worldwide. It is a company of innovators, thinkers and doers working together to bring technological advancement to a higher level.

Valuing its people with respect and taking great pride in their achievements, Northrop Grumman acknowledges the importance of welcoming and nurturing a culture of diversity, among individuals and ideas, which contribute to the company's growth and stellar performance.

A committed Equal Employment Employer, Northrop Grumman prohibits discrimination of any kind in its organization and believes in treating each one with fairness, dignity and equal consideration. It its search for talented people, it has partnered with DiversityWorking.com, whose mission is to help companies promote their jobs, build their brand and send targeted and qualified diversity candidates directly to the best jobs possible.

To find out more about Northrop Grumman and its job opportunities, click here.

DiversityWorking Announces Packaging Corporation of America As New Diversity Company Member

DiversityWorking.com, a career opportunity resource and job search engine for the cultural diversity marketplace, is pleased to announce the inclusion of Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) to its list of member diversity companies.

Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) is the fourth largest producer of containerboard and corrugated packaging products in the United States, and it converts approximately 83% of the containerboard it produces into finished corrugated containers for a broad base of both local and national accounts.

PCA has for its business philosophy building a collaborative relationship between their customers and employees. Its people are a knowledgeable, trusted, committed source of high quality products and services adding value to their clients' businesses.

In its search for top calibre job candidates to join its dynamic, diverse workforce, PCA has partnered with DiversityWorking.com, whose mission is to help companies promote their jobs, build their brand and send targeted and qualified diversity candidates directly to the best jobs possible.

To find out more about Packaging Corporation of America and its job opportunities, click here.

Positive Job Outlook for Recovering Auto Industry

The auto industry is recovering and 2015 promises to be a moderately good year for auto manufacturing jobs.

A Yahoo Finance report quoting Associated Press, said the U.S. economy was growing at a moderate pace in December and early January, helped by gains in sales of autos and other consumer products.

 

In their own report, Bloomberg Business Week said that one of the good things happening this year is strong sales of recreational vehicles made in northern Indiana! “We’re in the recovery—we’re recovered,” says Derald Bontrager, chairman of the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association. “Obama visited this area three times. We were referred to as the ‘white-hot center of the economy.’ ” Bontrager, the chief executive officer of family-owned Jayco in Middlebury, Ind., predicts the industry will tie unit sales records in 2015 and break them in 2016, thanks to rising U.S. employment and continued low interest rates. Read more here:

Reporting about Michigan economy, the Grand Rapids Business Journal also said that what drives the state economy is automotive. It continues to be the state's main strength. All of our auto parts producers have reported a good 2014, and some are cautiously optimistic about 2015. Read more here: 

Car manufacturers themselves note the industry's growth.

Last month, Jeff Schuster, senior VP of forecasting at global research firm LMC Automotive, noted that his company increased its total light-vehicle sales forecast for 2015 to 17.0 million units, up from 16.8 million previously, based on strong economic indicators. “The prospects for auto sales to overachieve in 2015 are moving closer to reality as 2014 goes out on a high note,” he said at the time. “Economic bliss, driven by job creation, wage growth and low gas prices may drive consumers to showrooms at a faster pace, emphasizing the notion that this recovery may not be over quite yet.” Read more:

Thus, the situation bodes well for automotive jobs. For Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics, for example, the job outlook within the decade from 2012-22 is 9% which is as fast as average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Go to DiversityWorking.com to browse for automotive jobs and launch an exciting career with any of its diversity company members.

20 Best Jobs in 2015

2015 teems with a positive outlook for employment in several industries, and based on US News Best Jobs rankings, health care jobs are among the top among these. Local job search should be no problem with this list of the year's in-demand jobs as guide.

According to a report by Yahoo Finance, the basis for the US News Best Jobs rankings methodology is the understanding that the best job for you holds your interest and pays for your lifestyle. And it's an occupation for which you could get hired to do. The occupations selected are those the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts will grow the most between 2012 and 2022. Those top 100 jobs, from the industries of business, creative, construction, health care, social services and technology, are then ranked based on projected openings, rate of growth, job prospects, unemployment rates, salary and job satisfaction.

Here are the 20 Best Jobs in 2015, based on the rankings by industry, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics job outlook for the decade 2012-2022:

Best Health Care Jobs

#1 – Dentist: $105K - $146K; 16% (Faster than average)

#2 – Nurse Practitioner: $80K - $110K; 31% (Much faster than average)

#3 - Physician: $137K - $186K; 18% (Faster than average)

#4 – Dental Hygienist: $59K - $85K; 33% (Much faster than average)

#5 – Physical Therapist: $67K - $93K; 36% (Much faster than average)

Best Technology Jobs

#1 – Software Developer: $72K - $116K; 22% (Much faster than average)

#2 – Computer Systems Analyst: $63K - $102K; 25% (Much faster than average)

#3 – Information Security Analyst: $67K - $113K; 37% (Much faster than average)

#4 – Web Developer: $44K -$85K; 20% (Faster than average)

#5 – Mechanica Engineer: $65K - $102K; 5% (Slower than average)

Best Business Jobs

#1 – Market Research Analyst: $44K - $85K; 32% (Much faster than average)

#2 - Marketing Manager: $88K - $166K; 12% (As fast as average)

#3 - Accountant: $50K - $86K; 13% (As fast as average)

#4 - Operations Research Analyst: $55K - $99K; 27% (Much faster than average)

#5 - Financial Advisor: $49K - $124K; 27% (Much faster than average)

Best Social Services Jobs

#1 – School Psychologist: $50K - $88K; 12% (As fast as average)

#2 - Speech-Language Pathologist: $55K - $89K; 19% (Faster than average)

#3 - Elementary School Teacher: $43K - $67K; 12% (As fast as average)

#4 – High School Teacher: $44K - $69K; 6% (Slower than average)

#5 – Middle School Teacher: $43K - $67; 12% (As fast as average)

Best Construction Jobs

#1 – Cost Estimator: $44K - $78K; 26% (Much faster than average)

#2 - Construction Manager: $64 - $111K; 16% (Faster than average)

#3 - Plumber: $37K - $67K; 21% (Faster than average)

#4 – Sheet Metal Worker: $32K - $58K; 15% (Faster than average

Best Creative Jobs

#1 – Public Relations Specialist: $40K - $75K; 12% (As fast as average)

Gender Diversity Generates More Productivity, Study Shows

Gender diversity makes good business sense; it generates more work productivity, though not necessarily enjoyable for the employees involved.

A new study suggests that men and women don't necessarily enjoy working with members of the opposite gender, but that teams with an even split of the two tend to be more productive, the Business Insider reported. The study was conducted by economists from George Washington University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studied eight years of employee survey data from a professional-services firm with more than 60 offices in the United States and abroad. Read more:

“Having a more diverse set of employees means you have a more diverse set of skills,” says Sara Ellison, an MIT economist, which “could result in an office that functions better.” At the same time, individual employees may prefer less diverse settings. The study, analyzing a large white-collar U.S. firm, examined how much “social capital” offices build up in the form of things like cooperation, trust, and enjoyment of the workplace. Read more here:

As reported by these articles, both men and women find it more comfortable working in homogenous settings wherein, it is found, there is more cooperation among team members, thus more satisfaction; however, an interesting twist is that it reduces the quality of work performance. “higher levels of social capital are not important enough to cause those offices to perform better. The employees might be happier, they might be more comfortable, and these might be cooperative places, but they seem to perform less well.”

In terms of gender diversity in top management, a McKinsey report provides some insights: 

“Female executives are ambitious and sure of their own abilities to become top managers, though they are much less confident that their companies’ cultures can support their rise. In our latest survey on gender and workplace diversity,¹ the results indicate that collective, cultural factors at work are more than twice as likely as individual factors to link to women’s confidence that they can reach top management.”

What is important then is for companies to ensure a culture of support for their women employees to get to the top, and in order to be able to achieve this, “companies must address mind-sets and develop a more inclusive, holistic diversity agenda,” the report says.

Microsoft Released Diversity Stats as Promised

Microsoft, has shown once again its sincere commitment to improving its workforce diversity, and has made good on its promise, last year, to release its diversity statistics without much fanfare.

A report by Matt Day of Seattle Times reads: Microsoft has joined the ranks of technology companies releasing more-detailed diversity data. The latest takeaway lines up with previous impressions: Microsoft’s employees are predominantly white and male. Non-Hispanic white males make up 47% of Microsoft’s U.S. workforce, above the 31% share Census data says the group accounts for in the country as a whole.

Another report, by Jacob Demmit of Puget Sound Business Journal, shares some of the diversity numbers based on Microsoft’sEEO-1 which he was able to secure from the company:

Overall:

Male: 46,142 (75.69 percent)
Female: 14,819 (24.31 percent)
White: 37,018 (60.72 percent)
Asian: 17,654 (28.96 percent)
Hispanic/Latino: 3,035 (4.98 percent)
Black: 2,098 (3.44 percent)
American Indian or Alaskan Native: 295 (.48 percent)
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander: 151 (.25 percent)

Executives, Senior Officials and Managers:

Male: 126 (87.5 percent)
Female: 18 (12.5 percent)
White: 116 (80.56 percent)
Asian: 20 (13.89 percent)
Hispanic/Latino: 5 (3.47 percent)
Black: 2 (1.39 percent)
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander:0
American Indian or Alaskan Native:0

Microsoft is one of DiversityWorking.com's leading diversity company members, partnering with it in its search for highly talented, qualified diversity candidates to fill the company's various job openings.