HR and Recruiting Job Demand Recovers

Real-time job data provider WANTED Analytics reports that over 36,000 jobs for HR pros were listed online in June 2012. As was the case in most occupations, the demand for HR hiring experienced a dramatic decline throughout the 2007-2010 recession during which time companies were recruiting far fewer employees. And while June actually experienced a slight decline compared to May 2012, hiring demand has now reached levels above that of the industry immediately before the recession. Over the year, June 2012 saw 17 percent more online job ads than in June 2011.

Most jobs were for recruiters with other 18,000 job listings, an 11 percent over-the-year increase. However, other HR functions to see hiring gains were compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists; compensation and benefits managers; training and development managers, employment interviewers; and general HR managers. The top titles listed for the HR field were, in descending order: recruiter, HR manager, HR assistant, director of HR, HR generalist, payroll specialist, payroll clerk, and technical recruiter.

The metro areas experiencing the highest volume of new HR job listing during the month were New York, Washington, DC, Chicago, L.A., and Boston. New York City saw the highest number of online ads with over 2,800, a 5 percent increase year-over-year where Chicago experienced the greatest increase rising over 24 percent.

A natural side effect of increased demand is increased difficulty in finding talent. Washington, D.C. is currently experiencing the greatest difficulty – according to HiringScale.com – with a 21 percent increase in ad volume and rising average time-to-fill data. The average duration for an HR job posting in D.C. as around six weeks. The Hiring Scale shows that the easiest places to recruit HR talent are in Salem, Oregon, Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Jackson, Mississippi.