Jeckyll and Hyde Job Market

Just in time for Halloween, the job market is feeling like Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde to me.

I'm often asked, "How's the job market?". Heading into the pandemic, my perspective was that the job market was scary. After the government financial stimulus was added, the job market roared back and was the best in years. Now? It depends.

The accounting profession has seen a dropoff in college grads who choose to pursue public accounting, for example. Why? The 150 credit requirement to sit for the CPA exam? Long hours and lack of work-life balance? To be fair, most CPA firms have adapted and are much better at providing balance and a supportive culture. It may not be enough, though, and that results in a rising demand for highly skilled CPA's. That's great for jobseekers, but not for hiring managers. For hiring managers in this situation, I previously wrote an article with a two-step process for expanding the talent pool .

Many additional job categories have more demand than supply as well, especially since the pandemic recovery started. Help wanted signs are common for many places of business. Some service industries are chronically understaffed, like restaurant wait staff and nursing staff.

Then there's the flip side. Some job categories in IT, for example, have shrinking demand. Once thought to be a safe-haven career category, IT roles are no longer universally in demand. I have received resumes from many highly skilled but unemployed business intelligence (BI) professionals recently, for example. There are many non-IT job categories with more supply than demand as well. For those, it is good for the hiring managers, not so much for job seekers. In another article, I provided suggestions for job seekers facing this situation.

So when people ask me how the job market is now, my answer starts with "It depends". A more unequivocal answer requires additional details.

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Happy Halloween!