Here is some encouraging employment news that dedicated Denver-area job-hunters may have missed:
• *Pay raises coming* – Businesses are predicted to give workers a 2-percent pay raise in 2010 and a 3-percent hike in 2011, according to a survey of 235 large U.S. employers by Watson Data Services. Only 10 percent plan no pay raises for workers in 2010, compared to 25 percent this year.
Employees who “exceed expectations” could see a 3.1-percent wage increase, while those who “far exceed expectations” will receive a 4-percent increase, according to the survey.
• *More job-seekers on the move* – With layoffs piling up, more workers are relocating to find work.
A total of 18 percent of job-seekers who found employment in the second quarter of 2009 relocated for their new position. That’s up from 14 percent in the previous quarter and 11 percent in the second quarter of 2008.
This year’s 18-percent rate is the highest since the second quarter of 2006, when it also hit 18 percent. These data are from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas of Chicago. The new numbers are based on data from roughly 3,000 job-seekers at all levels in a variety of industries nationwide.
Even with concern about losing money when selling a home, “The overwhelming desire to get back to work appears to be outweighing the perceived risks,” said CEO John Challenger.
*Start your search here*
• *Area companies excel* – Four Colorado firms are among the 50 best companies to work for in America, according to Great Place to Work Institute Inc., San Francisco.
Named a best small company (50-250 employees) is InsureMe of Englewood (ranked 19), now owned by Bankrate Inc. Best local medium companies (251-999 employees) on the list are The Integer Group (9), advertising and marketing company in Lakewood; Denver-based accounting firm Ehrhardt Keefe Steiner & Hottman (16) and workers’ comp insurer Pinnacol Assurance of Denver (20).
• *Head for hot jobs* – Some industries actually have numerous openings. The health care sector, for example, added an average of 17,000 new jobs each month nationwide in the first quarter of 2009 alone, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Similarly, jobs in education and some high tech areas are growing.
Five hot jobs are:
• Nurse practitioner, 4,500 estimated job openings
• Science teacher, 2,700
• Search engine optimization strategist, 2,700
• Commissioning agent, 4,000
• Financial restructuring specialist, 2,500
• *Boomers open businesses* – Baby boomers (aged 55 to 64) have the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity; ages 20 to 34 have the lowest rate, according to Kauffman Foundation data. Their study predicts the United States may be “on the cusp of an entrepreneurship boom.”
FYI – Denver has the largest concentration of baby boomer-aged residents in the U.S.
• *Layoffs not all bad* – Starting a new business, spending more time with family, making home improvements, exercising more, volunteering and going back to school are activities unemployed workers are focusing on while they aren’t employed.
A CareerBuilder survey of 1,800 recently laid off workers found that many are focusing on positive aspects of being between jobs. Twenty-two percent are reconnecting with friends and family, getting involved in the community, taking classes and exploring new career path options.
• *Game show, chain saw juggling earn extra income* – Ten percent of U.S. workers have added a second job in the last year to add income. In a recent CareerBuilder survey, more than 4,400 workers shared the weird ways they earn extra income:
Cooked and sold catfish dinners from home
• Made Star Wars costumes
• Donated blood plasma
• Researched stories for a gossip columnist
• Won money on a game show
• Juggled chain saws in a talent competition
• Posed for an art class
• Worked as a tarot card reader
• Wrote a freelance article on Big Foot
• Took notes in class for college students
• Took items from Lost & Found to sell online
• Gave office colleagues hair cuts
• Tested recipes for a book
• Worked as a movie extra
• Was a product-tester for bandages
• Played in poker tournaments
• Participated in university research studies
_Source – Denver Business Journal, PRNewswire, CBS MoneyWatch.com_
*Linda Gaber is a copywriter and coordinator of JobsWeekly at the Denver Newspaper Agency.*