Employment & Temp Work 2018 Profiler Brought to you by Media Group Online, Inc. . A Good Job Market Poised To Become Better © 2018 Media Group Online, Inc. All rights reserved

The Full-Employment Dilemma Most economic and employment analysts now consider the US labor market at “full employment,” with 228,000 jobs added during November 2017, the 86th consecutive month of increase and an unemployment rate of 4.1%, the lowest of the past 17 years. Another good sign is the record number (27%) of people who changed jobs during 2017. Despite these good numbers, wage growth only increased 2.5% during 2017, although a 3.5% increase is what the Federal Reserve would prefer. Now, the Republican-led US Congress has passed a tax reform bill, expecting a boost in job creation; however, employers have 6 million jobs to fill, almost a record, and they can’t find people for those positions at the wages offered. www.mediagrouponlineinc.com

Employment at a Human Level Diving deeper into the latest unemployment data reveals the rate for all men and all women, 20 years of age and older, was 3.2%, as of November 2017. Among teens, 16–19, however, the rate was 14.8%, the highest of any of the first 11 months of 2017. For African-Americans, the overall November 2017 unemployment rate was 7.3%, with men 20 and older, at 7.4%, and women 20 and older, at 5.9%. For African-American teens, the rate was a rather staggering 25.5%. The equivalent numbers for Latino Americans were total, 4.7%; men, 3.8%; women, 4.9%; and teens, 15.4%. For Asian Americans, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics only publishes an overall total, which was 3.0% unemployed for November 2017. www.mediagrouponlineinc.com

Employers Planning to Hire According to the ManpowerGroup’s Q1 2018 Employment Outlook Survey, 21% of the more than 11,500 employers interviewed for the survey said they would be increasing employment during Q1 2018, with just 5% expecting a decrease. The Q1 2018 forecast is essentially the same as Q4 2017, and 0.5% more than the 2017 average of 21.5%. The Net Employment Outlook (NET) for Q1 2018 is 16% (the anticipated increase, 21%, minus the anticipation decrease, 5%). The Q1 2018 NET compares favorably to Q1 2017’s, which was 13%. When seasonally adjusted, the Q1 2018 NET is 19%, compared to 16% for Q1 2017. www.mediagrouponlineinc.com

Staffing and Temp Work Steady, But Slower In the latest data available from the American Staffing Association (ASA), total 2016 industry revenues were $150.4 billion, a 1.6% increase over 2015’s $148 billion; however, this was significantly less than the 5.7% increase from 2014 to 2015. Search and placement was 15% of the total, or $21.9 billion, increasing 2.6%, and temporary and contract, was 85% of the total, or $128.5 billion, increasing 1.7%. US staffing companies employed an average of 3.22 million workers during Q3 2017, which was 0.7% less than Q3 2016, but the 14th consecutive month exceeding 3 million.

Accelerating the Freelance Opportunity The so-called “pass-through” provision of the new tax reform bill will allow many small business owners and independent contractors to claim their business income as wages, thus qualifying for a 20% deduction from the total. This could accelerate the increasing number of people who choose to work as freelancers, which is forecast to become a majority (54%) of the entire US workforce by 2027, according to a 2017 study from Upwork and Freelance Union. As of October 2017, 36% of the American workforce were freelancers and 47% of the total (57.3 million) were Millennials. Of those surveyed, 63% said they became freelancers by choice, a 10% increase from 2014. www.mediagrouponlineinc.com

Integrating AI into the Workplace For millennia, technological advancements have replaced human labor and generated uncounted new jobs. In a December 2017 report, Gartner stated that by 2020, “one in five workers engaged in mostly non- routine tasks will rely on AI to do a job.” Although job displacement will occur as AI and robotics become more common, Gartner research reveals that AI will create 2.3 million jobs during 2020, but will eliminate fewer, or approximately 1.8 million. Another December 2017 report, from McKinsey Global Institute, predicts as much as 30% of work activity in the 46 countries studied could be displaced by 2030, but the report authors think the percentage will likely be half or less. www.mediagrouponlineinc.com

Advertising Strategies With so much of the hiring process – full-time, part-time and temp work – done online, employers and staffing and temp work agencies can use traditional media to build their brand and drive people to their Websites and social media pages. Since training and retraining is critical to many people changing jobs and careers, local employers and staffing and temp work agencies should proactively partner with training centers and emphasize these partnerships in their advertising. Local employers and staffing and temp work agencies can generate local goodwill by freely assisting a homeless/unemployed person once a quarter with training, creating a new résumé and showing him or her how to use online tools to find employment. www.mediagrouponlineinc.com

New Media Strategies Those local employers and staffing and temp work agencies that partner with training centers should create a page on their Website and social media sites to share information, schedules, etc. of training programs as well as video testimonials from “graduates.” Local employers and staffing and temp work agencies must learn as much as they can about the future of work, in terms of the effects of AI, robotics and automation, and share this information in videos, blog posts and other digital content with those seeking work. Use the table on page 4 of the Profiler, 10 Fastest Growing Occupations, as themes of blog posts and/or videos, researching these jobs in more detail and sharing general information as well as comments/inputs from local employers who hire for these occupations. www.mediagrouponlineinc.com

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