Demand for Workers Picked Up In Late 2013. Here's Why:

NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Demand for workers picked up in the second half of 2013 after flat demand earlier in the year. According to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine®, a total of 352,000 advertised vacancies (59,000 per month) were added in the last six months of 2013; the first half of the year saw fewer than 4,000 jobs added per month. However, the largest gains were in service jobs, which typically are lower-wage jobs.

"The gains in late 2013 are likely to be hires in early 2014," said June Shelp, Vice President of The Conference Board. "Based on the ads, the unemployed with the skills to fill the shortages in many professional occupations (computer workers and medical workers) will find there are 3 or more advertised jobs while those looking for service jobs, (wait staff, sales clerks, and cooks) will be more challenged with two or three unemployed for every job opening."

Biggest gains for Service workers

Late-2013 gains in advertised vacancies were strongest in the services category, rising 234,000, with over half of that gain (+126,000) largely in employers' demand for sales workers and their supervisors (See table).

Increased sales spur the need for truck drivers to deliver the products, which drove demand for transportation and material handling occupations up by 48,300. The second half of 2013 also saw demand for food service workers, like cooks and wait staff, gain 25,000.

Less impressive gains for Professional workers

Professional occupations fared less well in the second half of the year, rising only 117,400 with critical shortages of qualified workers for many occupations. The largest gain, for management positions (+49,100), was largely due to managers for sales staff as well as treasurers and marketing managers. One other strong note was the increased demand for healthcare professionals (+36,600) such as doctors and nurses. This increase was welcome after the decline of 28,400 in the first half of 2013.

More disappointing was the falloff in the demand for construction workers.  Construction, which had strong increases in the previous three years, was flat in 2013 (construction rose 11,500 in the first half of 2013 but then declined 10,500 in the second half of the year).  Since labor demand tends to lead changes in employment, this decline may be an indication that new construction projects might slow in the early months of 2014.

"Setting aside the lower wages (less than $17 per hour for service workers and over $38 per hour in the professional category), the large number of unemployed pursuing service openings continues to challenge job-seekers in those fields," said Shelp. "In many cases the educational gap for job-seekers to pursue the more plentiful opportunities in the professional category is just too great." 

About The Conference Board

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