CareerBuilder.com, the nation's largest online job site with more than 20 million unique visitors and over 1 million jobs, released the results of its latest survey tracking projected hiring and job search activities for the upcoming quarter. The survey, titled "Q3 2006 Job Forecast," was conducted from June 6 to June 16, 2006 of more than 2,200 workers, including over 1000 hiring managers primarily operating in services industries.

HIRING HIGHLIGHTS

"As economic growth shows signs of moderating, job creation levels in the U.S. have dipped in recent months. While some employers are proceeding with caution in terms of recruitment plans, others are expecting an uptick in hiring in the fall," said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder.com. "One-third of hiring managers say they are allocating more money to their recruitment budgets in the second half of the year, compared to the first half. Forty- seven percent of hiring managers expect to add headcount in the third quarter, while 13 percent plan to eliminate staff."

Amount of Employees Being Hired

While half of hiring managers plan to hire less than 10 new employees, three-in-ten expect to add more than 20 and one-in-five expect to add more than 50.

Hiring Cycle

Hiring managers continue to struggle with finding qualified candidates. Twenty-two percent of hiring managers say it takes them one to two months to fill an open position, while 11 percent spend two to three months. One-in-ten hiring managers surveyed say their hiring cycles run three months or longer.

Most Popular Positions for Recruitment

The leading areas for job requisitions in the upcoming quarter include healthcare, sales, customer service, information technology, retail and accounting/finance. In terms of job level, recruiting for professional and technical workers is poised to remain strong. Thirty-four percent of hiring managers say they plan to add professional and technical staff members during the third quarter. Fifteen percent expect to recruit employees for manager, director and senior executive level positions, up from 12 percent last quarter. Sixteen percent plan to recruit for administrative and clerical employees, down from 19 percent last quarter.

Most Popular Resources Used to Recruit

Hiring managers are employing a variety of tools to find qualified candidates, with online resources ranking most popular. Twenty-eight percent of hiring managers surveyed said they use online resources most often to find qualified candidates, compared to 23 percent who use newspaper classifieds, 19 percent who rely on employee referrals and 10 percent who use professional recruiters.

  JOB CHANGES
  Plans to Change Jobs in Q3 2006

Close to one-in-five workers plan to take advantage of the tightening labor market and change jobs in the next six months. One-in-ten plan to do so in the third quarter.

The current labor conditions are driving up the number of workers who are passively looking for a new job. Fifty-seven percent of workers report they are not actively searching for a new position, but would be open to a new job if they came across the right opportunity.

Survey Methodology

The survey, "Q3 2006 Job Forecast," was conducted from June 6 to June 16, 2006. Methodology used to collect survey responses totaling more than 2,200 workers for this study involved selecting a random sample of comScore Networks panel members. These Web Panel members were approached via an e-mail invitation, which asked them to participate in a short online survey. The results of this survey are statistically accurate to within +/- 2.08 percentage points (19 times out of 20). Note: this sample included more than 1000 hiring managers. The results for the hiring managers are statistically accurate to within +/- 3.65 percentage points (19 times out of 20).

About CareerBuilder.com

CareerBuilder.com is the nation's largest online job site with more than 20 million unique visitors and over 1 million jobs. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. , Tribune Company , and Knight Ridder, Inc. , the company offers a vast online and print network to help job seekers connect with employers. CareerBuilder.com powers the career centers for more than 800 partners that reach national, local, industry and niche audiences. These include more than 170 newspapers and leading portals such as America Online and MSN. More than 250,000 employers take advantage of CareerBuilder.com's easy job postings, 18 million-plus resumes, Diversity Channel and more. Millions of job seekers visit the site every month to search for opportunities by industry, location, company and job type, sign up for automatic email job alerts, and get advice on job hunting and career management. For more information about CareerBuilder.com products and services, visit http://www.careerbuilder.com/.

  Media Contact
  Jennifer Sullivan
  Director, Corporate Communications
  CareerBuilder.com
  773-527-1164
  Jennifer.Sullivan@careerbuilder.com

SOURCE: CareerBuilder.com