A newly released summer job survey commissioned by SnagAJob.com predicts that hiring managers with available jobs expect to be paying an average of $10.90 this year, a nearly 7 percent increase over last summer’s $10.20.
Additionally, those managers are also anticipating hiring more employees. Key highlights from the study include:
- More hiring managers hiring more workers: 10 percent of hiring managers said they will be hiring more seasonal staff than last year, which is up significantly from last year (6 percent). Overall, 55 percent of hiring managers with responsibility for hiring summer, seasonal workers will hire temporary staff this year, the highest percentage in the past four years. (At the survey’s low in 2008, 51 percent of hiring managers brought on summer workers.)
- Hiring happening earlier in the season: 43 percent of hiring managers with available jobs expect to complete their summer seasonal hiring by April, a slightly more aggressive timeline than last year (40 percent).
- Competition still there, but trending better: Hiring managers with available jobs still expect numerous applications, with 60 percent saying that they will receive more applications than last year. And while that’s still concerning for job seekers, it’s a better scenario than last year (66 percent) and 2009 (73 percent).
Also, on a scale of one to 10, with one being “impossible” and 10 being “extremely easy,” hiring managers are neutral on how hard it will be for teens to find a job, citing, on average, the mid-point of the scale, a five. This is improved from last year’s average (4.7).
“This year’s survey is confirming the positive direction we were anticipating for the summer hiring season,” said Shawn Boyer, founder and CEO of SnagAJob. “A number of indicators show that this season should be better than the past several years, including more hiring managers making hires and a greater number of those folks indicating that they will bring on more employees than the previous season. We won’t be back up to pre-recession hiring levels, but both the survey and our own site inventory point to more opportunity.”
When it comes to the makeup of seasonal employees, hiring managers with available positions expect that 65 percent of staff will be returning workers, and 35 percent will be new employees, according to the SnagAJob survey. This finding has been consistent the past four years in which the survey has been conducted.
The research was conducted by IPSOS Public Affairs, a third-party research firm, on behalf of SnagAJob.com between Feb. 23 and Mar. 1, 2011. Respondents included 1,005 hiring managers with responsibility for hiring summer, seasonal employees paid by the hour.
