Time to Shift Your Job Search Out of Neutral

Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Not many people were hunting for jobs at this time last year. At the start of a pandemic and associated economic downturn, most workers were worried about their company's stability and keeping the jobs that they already had. Would there be layoffs? If so, would other companies even be hiring? It was a time of great uncertainty.

Looking for a new job and a higher salary last year was not a priority. Holding onto the job you had seemed like the smart thing to do.

But now in 2021, COVID vaccines are being distributed, schools are reopening, and most people have a much greater sense of certainty about their jobs and their value in the market. If you were going to be laid off due to COVID's economic impact, it probably would have happened by now. Now it is clearer what new opportunities have been created and which vertical industries to avoid for a while still.

It's in that environment that some IT pros may be dusting off those resumes and looking at the job market again. In particular, if you were in a position where your salary was frozen and it still hasn't thawed, you may be wondering what opportunities are out there.

The job market is showing some signs of recovery, according to Ryan Sutton, a district president specializing in technology for recruitment firm Robert Half, who spoke with InformationWeek in an interview.

"If you go back to the first three to six months of the pandemic, there were a lot of unknowns and candidates looked for a new job out of need more than desire," Sutton said. "But over the last six months we are seeing a steady increase in traffic entering the job market again as candidates are more confident about making a move."

If you want a raise, changing jobs has usually been the easiest way to do it. Sutton said that pretty much every candidate in IT who makes a move gets a salary increase. Over the past several years there's been rampant growth of salaries in tech for those candidates willing to move. Candidates may have moved a few times and seen a salary bump of 25% each time, although the pandemic may have normalized those salaries somewhat.

Another big shift in the market is the acceptance of remote talent. As companies have been forced to work with a remote workforce, they've realized that they can choose from a bigger pool of candidates when they go beyond geographic constraints.

For instance, a company in New York City may have been paying top dollar for local talent, but the pandemic shifted the mindset about who they could hire. Now they may be looking at farther flung candidates -- possibly ones who would only come to the office once or twice a week, or possibly ones who would be completely remote. They can pay these candidates less, but still pay a premium over what that candidate would make in their local market...

Full Article @ https://www.informationweek.com/time-to-shift-your-job-search-out-of-neutral/d/d-id/1340548?