Employment Trends for 2016

With the New Year comes new employment trends in the HR and Recruiting world. As the economy continues to change and evolve, different industries will have their own challenges to overcome, but overall there are several common trends seen throughout the country.

  1. You might be courted by a recruiter. Companies are hiring again and there is a smaller pool of unemployed Americans looking for work. As a result, recruiters are beginning to wage a fierce war over talented employees, whether they were looking for new job opportunities or not.
  2. New overtime regulations. Last year President Obama introduced a wage and hour regulation into the Federal Register, requiring employers to pay overtime to salary employees who earn $50,400 or less per year. In 2016, it’s expected to go into effect.
  3. Increased minimum wage. As of December 31, 2015, the minimum wage in New York State for most non-exempt employees increased from $8.75/hr to $9.00/hr. Tipped employees in the hospitality industry saw their hourly rate increase from $5.00/hr to $7.50/hr pre-tip. Governor Cuomo also recently announced a new $15.00/hr minimum wage for employees of the State University System. While it is still too soon to say what effect these changes will have on the economy, they are certainly on business owners’ minds.
  4. Boomerang employees on the rise. No longer are companies turned off by the idea of employees returning to the company they once left. It is a good idea to foster an environment where employees who leave on good terms are welcome to return to the organization sometime in the future. Boomerang employees help lower recruiting costs, both time and monetarily, since they already have knowledge of the business practices and can more easily acclimate back to the group.
  5. Healthcare costs will be increasingly important to manage. ACA penalties go into full effect this year. Employers with 50-99 full-time employees will now be subject to penalties if they do not provide health insurance coverage. With talent already being such a high cost for companies, expensive healthcare benefits may be too much for them to bear without changing their current business models.
  6. Maternity leave. Expect this to be a hot topic for 2016 and beyond. While NYS law doesn’t require any paid parental leave, many large companies, especially in the tech field, are now offering progressive parental leave for both mothers and fathers of newborns and/or adopted children. These policies help companies keep top talent and future more, keep mothers working in their same roles after having children.

What employment trends do you think will shape the workplace in 2016?

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