Lone Star State Continues to hold top ranking by CEOs as Best State for Business
The results are from Chief Executive magazine’s annual survey and are based on a variety of factors from taxation and regulation, to work force quality and living environment. Hundreds of CEOs have ranked the best and worst states for business in 2011. Since 2005 Texas continues to hold the top spot as the best state to do business while California and New York remain on the bottom, ranking as the worst.
CEOs look to do business in areas based on a state’s attitudes and policies towards businesses which are essential to successful growth. Factors from the work ethic of the people to the schools in the area play important roles in their decision to start a business as well. Texas continues to rank high based on these factors as well as its labor market flexibility and low taxes. Over the last decade Texas has attracted 4.3 million people to the state and in the last year alone created over 250,000 jobs, attracting the largest amount of job seekers to their state then any other in the country.
A major quality that CEOs look for when entering into a state to do business is its flexibility in employment laws. The top ranking states possess qualities in allowing for company freedom in deciding employee terms and benefits. CEOs want to be able to hire the appropriate employee for the position and have found that most of the lower ranking states have implemented regulations that make this hard for their business.
Donlon, J P. “Best/Worst States for Business.” Chief Executive 3 May 2011: n. pag. Web. 16 May 2011. <http://chiefexecutive.net/best-worst-states-for-business>.
Companies Ramp Up Hiring
As the economy continues to improve, more companies are ramping up their hiring efforts. Economists predict that around 200,000 jobs a month will be added throughout the year. Manufacturing has been a leading sector in the past months, and we’re seeing many major well-known companies expanding and looking to hire hundreds of positions.
The decrease in unemployment will allow for more of consumer’s money to be spent in the economy thus generating even more hiring. The new income for consumers is important as we see gas prices continually rising and large debts incurred during the recession that need to be paid off. Economists hope that gas prices will level off in the coming months to allow for consumers to have extra spending money to fuel the economy and continue to increase hiring.
Bartash, Jeffry. “Jobs report to shed light on U.S. economy .” MarketWatch 1 May 2011: n. pag. Web. 2 May 2011. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobs-report-to-shed-light-on-us-economy-2011-05-01?reflink=MW_news_stmp.
Crutsinger, Martin. “Hiring likely to boost spending despite gas prices.” Associated Press 29 April 2011: n. pag. Web. 2 May 2011. <http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9MTI2104.htm.
How To Avoid Job Board Scams
Last month we published a blog that emphasized the increase in advertised job openings. If you are looking on online job boards for open positions, you are doing it right. However, some of the job listings you see on these sites can be possible scams, looking to get your information or not pay you for your hard work.
One way to avoid these scams is by always doing research on the company before applying. Do a simple Google search, look at the website, make sure it is a place you would like to work and that does not look sketchy. Additionally, you are going to want to look for any negative comments about the company which will reveal if it is legitimate or not. This is important because you do not want to reveal your personal information to a company that is not legitimate. Job applications often ask for your social security number and other information that can be sold or used to target you for advertising.
Before applying to a position it is also important to check with the Better Business Bureau to see if the company has been reported as a scammer. Another great online resource is Glassdoor, which will allow you to look up salaries, reviews, ratings, and interview feedback for the company. This not only helps you get insight from past employees, but it will help you understand how the interview process works.
Job openings reach highest level in two years
The Labor Department reported that there were more advertised job openings in February than any time in the past two years. This trend is expected to continue throughout April, signaling a positive change in the economy. There were 3.1 million job openings posted in February, an increase of more than 350,000 since January. The outlook is good with the unemployment rate falling to 8.8, the lowest in two years. While there is still fierce competition for open positions, the decrease in unemployment and increase in job openings is evidence that the climate is starting to improve.
What is causing this increase in open jobs? More people are quitting their jobs, presumably to take positions elsewhere. Additionally, layoffs are near the slowest in ten years. Another reason for the increase in open positions is that consumers are starting to gain more confidence in the economy. The increase in retail spending creates more open positions. The increase in confidence can be seen when looking at the 11% increase in sales at Saks Inc and 14% gain from Limited Brands.
Rugaber, Christopher. “Fast Rise in Job Openings Brightens Hiring Outlook.” ABC News (2011): n. pag. Web. 18 Apr 2011. <http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=13368462&page=2>.
Technology industry on hiring frenzy in 2011
The technology industry is the place to be in 2011. Companies in this industry are on a hiring frenzy, looking for the most talented candidates in engineering, social media, website and product design, data crunching and analysis, and management. Statistics show that 308,000 tech jobs were lost between second quarter of 2008 and first quarter of 2010, but that is changing in 2011. Sophia Koropeckyj, an economist at Moody’s Analytics, says that 148,000 tech jobs are expected to be added by year-end. This increase in hiring is already being felt with a 2.4% increase in tech jobs during February from a year ago.
Some of the top technology companies are ramping up for large hiring sprees this year. Google, without disclosing specific numbers, said that 2011 should be its biggest hiring year ever. Zynga, a social-gaming company, expects to double its staff of 1,500 in the next year. Twitter, a popular social networking site, expects to expand its workforce to 3,000 from 400 by July 2013.
Swartz, Jon. “Tech sector hiring is hot again as Google, Twitter, etc., grow.” USA Today (2011): n. pag. Web. 4 Apr 2011. <http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-03-29-technology-jobs_N.htm>.
Unemployment rate falls to 9 percent; lowest since April of 2009
2010 was a difficult year for those looking for a new career with a high unemployment rate and a competitive job environment. Open job positions are getting flooded with a large amount of applications making it more difficult to get chosen. However, President Obama is proud to announce that the employment rate fell to 9% in January, down from 9.4% in December. This could be a good sign for the upcoming year with hopes that the unemployment rate continues to decline.
But it is not all good news; only 36,000 jobs were added overall. This is lower than projected, meaning that people may have dropped out of the job market. However, the White House is staying positive saying, “The 0.8 percentage decline in the unemployment rate over the past two months is a welcome development… However, the rate remains unacceptably high.” The Obama administration will continue to work towards a lower unemployment rate and more jobs being added.
Source: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/02/obama-gets-good-news-bad-news-on-jobs/1
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