Pew Research State of American Jobs Survey Provides Insight into Hiring and Retaining Employees

pew-continuous-training

Importance of continuous training/skill development throughout work life

The ability to hire qualified candidates is certainly top of mind for management within the document imaging industry. That’s why the recent State of American Jobs survey from Pew Research Center caught our eye. The “non-partisan fact tank” polled more than 5,000 Americans in May and June, and the results provide interesting insight into why hiring is a challenge as well as the expectations of employees and job candidates.

A key finding is that employment is rising fastest in occupations that require the most preparation (e.g., college or training). That would include many technical and marketing roles. In 1980, there was virtually no difference in the level of employment between jobs requiring low and high levels of preparation. Today, jobs that require a high level of preparation outnumber those with lower requirements by 20 million.

Almost three-quarters (72 percent) of respondents believe they are primarily responsible for preparing and succeeding in the workforce. Sixty percent say that public K to 12 schools have a lot of responsibility as well. Employers were not off the hook with 49 percent giving them responsibility for ensuring employees have the right skills and training.

Surprisingly, the expectations of colleges were low. Only 16 percent believed that a four-year degree prepares students well for a high-paying job. However, only 52 percent of the respondents saw the role of colleges as teaching job-related skills. Thirty-five percent said that the role of colleges was to help students grow personally and intellectually.

Respondents reported that work experience was an important setting to learn critical skills such as interpersonal skills (35 percent), critical thinking (46 percent), and written and spoken communication (30 percent).

Perhaps the most interesting finding is that occupations are requiring more of two key skills: analytics and social. The number of occupations requiring strong social skills (interpersonal communications, management) have grown by 83 percent since 1980. Those requiring analytical skills (critical thinking and computer use) grew by 77 percent. In contrast, jobs requiring physical skills grew by only 18 percent.

Service and information-based occupations are among the fastest growing job segments. Since 1990, for example, professional and business services jobs have grown by 71 percent. Only educational services (105 percent) and health care/social assistance (99 percent) were higher.

If you think you’ve been working more than you used to, you’re right. Americans are working nearly four weeks more than they were in 1980 (43 vs. 46.8), and .6 hours more per week (38.1 vs. 38.7).

Key Takeaway
The Pew survey confirms and quantifies what any manager in the industry already knows: Their key personnel roles require more skills, and the people with those skills are hard to find. Once hired, those employees will expect ongoing support in terms of training and personal growth.

That presents a big challenge to companies, but it’s also an opportunity. Businesses that can demonstrate that they have strong employee development programs will have a better chance of hiring and retaining the best people.

The State of American Jobs survey results contain much more data and insight than provided here. You can view the full report summary at http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/10/06/the-state-of-american-jobs/.

Michael Nadeau
About the Author
Michael Nadeau is a contributing editor for ENX Magazine.