The real unemployment rate amongst IT, Finance and Accounting professionals today.

Everyone has heard the numbers that the media promotes regarding unemployment. The worse they can make these numbers sound the better for ratings. But what is the real story if you are a college educated professional in IT, Finance or Accounting?

According to the Department of Labor Statistics, nationwide unemployment was at 9.1 percent in September. Ohio unemployment was most recently 9.1 percent and Kentucky and Indiana were 9.5 percent and 8.7 percent respectively.

While these numbers seem high, they are not telling the real story. Candidates that are not aware of the demand for their skill-set see these numbers and get concerned - afraid to take another job and leave the security of the position they have, even if they are dissatisfied.  Alternatively, many candidates leave for another position but settle for far less than what they could have negotiated for.

Hiring managers see these numbers and naively think that they are in the drivers seat; developing qualification requirements for a job description that are unrealistic and expecting a deal while offering to pay significantly less than the market demands. To some the perception is that desperate candidates are lining up and the pickin’s are easy.

What we are experiencing here at Partner is something significantly different. In fact it’s almost the opposite than one might expect.  We have found that the demand for top talent is high and that the supply of these candidates is low and requires more effort than ever to find.

So how is this the case in a down economy that so many in the media are touting as being on the brink of a possible double-dip recession?  The reason is because the true unemployment rate for college-educated professionals in IT, Finance and Accounting is significantly lower than what the overall numbers show.

On a macro level, unemployment for those with a college degree or greater is an average of 4.3 percent - less than half of what the overall employment number is. But if we drill  down even further to the Technology and Finance & Accounting verticals we serve and it’s even lower.

For example, in September, IT experienced it’s 20th consecutive month of job growth, adding 5,800 new jobs. Locally, .NET and Java developers, for example, are in such high demand that often candidates have multiple offers to choose from.

Part of the high demand for IT  is being driven by historically low unemployment in the Healthcare IT sector. The demand for IT to help with the implementation of the Electronic Medial Record is extremely high. So high, in fact, that the lack of available candidates is the major bottle neck facing hospitals in their effort to meet Federal deadlines for EMR implementation and the corresponding “meaningful use” that is required to receive the financial rewards offered by the government.

Cloud computing, cybersecurity and mobile devices & applications are major drivers of the job growth this year. IT as a whole is expected to see 12% growth for 2011 and throughout 2012 as well.

In the Finance arena, the unemployment level for Financial Analyst, Accountants, Auditors and other financial specialist is between 3.5 percent to 3.8 percent or lower. Additionally, 10 percent growth is expected in this vertical for the remainder of 2011 and is expected to stay strong or decelerate slightly in 2012 with a conservative estimate at 8 percent growth or better.

Lastly, our region has also seen overall job growth outpace much of the nation. Ohio was recently second in the nation for month-over-month job growth and 9th out of the 50 states (top 20%).  Furthermore, Cincinnati was 40th out of the 336 major U.S. metro job markets measured (top 12%).

If you have any questions about this or our local IT and Finance market. Feel free to contact me, Terry Correll, at 513-985-6400.