Hiring plans in the U.S. are getting back to pre-recession levels, according to CareerBuilder’s latest nationwide survey. 

One-third of employers added full-time, permanent employees in the first quarter of this year, on par with 2007 and the highest increase reported since the recession began.  The momentum is expected to continue with 30 percent of employers planning to add new full-time, permanent staff in April through June. More than 2,000 hiring managers and human resource professionals across industries and company sizes participated in the latest survey.

Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder, offers his take on the results:

We have moved from an anemic job market to one that is stable and growing. While still cautious, employers are feeling better about the state of the U.S. economy and the debt situation in Europe.  Forty-one percent of companies reported their sales have increased over the last six months, which is helping to fuel greater confidence in hiring.  The amount of job listings we’re seeing for key categories on CareerBuilder.com are similar to that of 2007.  All indicators point to steady improvement in the job market in the second quarter and beyond.

Here are some takeaways from the forecast:

• One third (33 percent) of employers added full-time, permanent staff in the first quarter of 2012
• Nine percent decreased headcount in the first quarter 2012, a slight improvement from 10 percent last year.
• Looking ahead, 30 percent of employers plan to increase their full-time, permanent headcount in the second quarter.
• Thirty-seven percent of employers hired contract or temporary workers in the first quarter, up from 29 percent last year.
• Hiring in companies of all sizes is showing signs of improvement.  The percentage of employers planning to recruit in the next few months increased by two to three percentage points over last year for different segments.

Challenges Ahead for Employers

Results from the survey indicate what employers can expect in the coming months.

Increased Competition for Talent: Of employers who recruited for positions in the last year, more than half (56 percent) reported that a candidate rejected a job offer from their organization.  Forty-one percent of those attributed the rejection to their inability to provide the candidate’s desired salary while 22 percent said they didn’t offer the position quickly enough and the candidate was already hired somewhere else.

Growing Skills Shortage: Despite the high unemployment rate, many employers struggle to find the talent they need, and the challenge is only growing. Thirty-one percent of employers currently have jobs for which they can’t find qualified employees, up from 24 percent last year, and 15 percent of employers reported that, because they can’t fill high-skill positions within their organizations, they’re not able to create lower-skilled positions that are tied to these roles. The findings indicate a need for employers to recognize the need to plan ahead and recognize how the growing gap between high-skill job openings and available talent has a larger impact on overall employment.

For complete survey results, download the full Q2 Hiring Forecast here.

Although the recession has been hard on many industries, the health care industry is one that has managed to thrive. Since the recession’s start, the health care industry has added 631,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and has consistently added headcount each month. CareerBuilder’s annual health care hiring forecast indicates that this hiring momentum will likely continue into 2010. The survey was conducted between November 5 and November 23, 2009, among more than 240 health care employers.

Hiring in 2010

• More than one in five (22 percent) health employers said they plan to increase the number of full-time, permanent employees this year, up from 17 percent last year.

• Ten percent of employers said they had plans to increase the number of part-time employees at their organizations in 2010, in order to help meet demand.

“While most industries struggled with headcount since the start of the recession, health care was and continues to be one of the strongest industries for hiring,” said Jason Ferrara, vice president of corporate marketing for CareerBuilder.

“Forty percent of health care employers, by far the highest among industries we surveyed, have open positions for which they can’t find qualified candidates. This shows that there is high demand for qualified health care workers across a variety of areas; everything from medical assistants to records specialists to nurses.”

Five Health Care Recruitment Trends for 2010

1. Replacing Low-Performing Employees

Health care employers are taking advantage of the current labor pool’s large number of highly qualified candidates to strengthen their work force. Forty-three percent of health care employers say they plan to replace low-performing employees with higher performers in 2010.

What do health care employers really think of their employees’ performance? When asked to grade their current work force, 18 percent rated their employees an “A”, 68 percent a “B”, 13 percent a “C”, and less than one percent a “D” or “F. Whew.

2. More Flexibility

Flexible work options continue to be important to health care employers. Over a third (37 percent) of health care employers said they will provide more flexible work arrangements for employees in 2010, including:

• Alternative schedules (74%) — Employees can come into work early and leave early, or come in later and leave later
• Compressed work weeks (53%) Employees work the same hours, but consolidate work into fewer days
• Telecommuting (40%) — Employees work from home or from another remote location
• Job sharing (12%) — Employees share the same position in a company, each working part of the week
• Summer hours (12%) — Workers enjoy condensed hours during the summer; typically 1/2 days on Fridays

3. Recruitment Tools

As the demand for quality health care employees continues this year, health care employers will leverage a variety of recruitment tools to fill their open positions. But on what are they planning to spend more money, exactly?

• Online recruitment sites — (25%)

• Newspaper classifieds — (20%)

• Career fairs — (18%)

• Social and professional networking sites — (13%)

• Staffing firms and recruiters — (7%)

4. Freelance Workers

Because of the great demand for qualified workers, many health care employers are seeking out freelance or contract health care workers to supplement their needs.  In fact, 34 percent of health care employers are hiring contract or freelance workers in 2010.

5. Green Jobs

“Green jobs” are defined as jobs that contribute significantly to preserving or restoring environmental quality. Being “green” is a rapidly growing movement within the health care industry as companies seek ways to run more efficiently; 10 percent of health care employers plan to add “green” jobs in 2010.
If you missed it, read the full press release here.