This Week's Herman Trend Alert The Consequences of Virtual Meetings

The Herman Trend Alert June 16, 2010 Mixed Outlook for College Grads While for some of the 2.2 million college-age graduates in the class of 2010, it's a terrible time to be looking for a job, others have companies chasing them. The Great Recession has forced many grads to be "boomerang kids", until they can find a job. Often when they do find jobs, they are low-paying, part-time positions outside their fields of study. Though recent college grads are not ideal job candidates, those with certain specialized degrees are in high demand in some cities, notably Cincinnati, and they’re commanding surprisingly high starting salaries. With the 10.2 percent unemployment in that Metro Area and the thousands of out-of-work professionals looking for jobs, it is curious. A recent survey of the 1,400 member companies in the Employers Resource Association (ERA), a Cincinnati-based HR services and consulting consortium revealed some fascinating statistics about average starting salaries was for recent college graduates. As usual, engineering and technical students will earn the most. Of the top ten best-paying fields for students with bachelor's degrees, eight were in engineering and the sciences, with starting salaries ranging from $48,000 to $54,333. Many of these engineering and science jobs are highly skilled positions requiring training. Employers are willing to pay for graduates' specialized knowledge. The bachelor-degreed graduates commanding the highest starting salaries in Greater Cincinnati are chemical engineering ($54,333), public relations ($54,000), software engineering ($53,964), electrical engineering ($51,266), and construction science ($51,000). Reinforcing these results was a recent report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers in which eight of the ten top-paying majors are in engineering. By contrast, the graduates commanding the lowest starting salaries are criminal justice and corrections ($26,000), liberal arts and sciences ($29,970), English ($30,470), psychology ($33,500) and communications ($36,079). Also recently, Yahoo.com released its list of the most desirable degrees: Healthcare (Nursing, Pharmacy, Medical Technician, and Physical Therapy) Business Administration (Business, Business Administration, and Business Administrative Support) Computer Science (Computer Science, Technical Information Technology and Systems) Accounting/Finance Engineering (Biomedical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Network Engineering and Administration, and Programming and Software Engineering) Marketing Other data from the ERA study reflected that employers are paying the most for specialized degrees. Expect this payment for specialization to continue and the move towards specialization in all fields to intensify. © Copyright 1998- by The Herman Group, Inc. -- reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566 or http://www.hermangroup.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc." BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: RETENTION SPECIALIST PROGRAM A growing number of people have expressed an interest in attending our Employee Retention Specialist Certificate Program. We'd like to schedule on that's convenient for those who want to attend, but need your feedback to do so. Please place RETENTION SPECIALIST in the subject line and Joyce will personally call you back to schedule the workshop. Or you can call Joyce directly at 336-210-3548 (PDT this and next week). BUSINESS IS PICKING UP Most employers are unprepared. The recovery will bring a new set of challenges for employers that have been in prolonged contracted mode. They will need more skilled workers or will need now to begin to upskill their current staffs. But organizations can not engage in Strategic Workforce Planning, when they don't know how. That's where The Herman Group can help. We can help you with your "People Review"----large or small---so that you will know who you will need and when you will need them. . . and we can also guide you to the best sources for the people you will need. For more information, call Joyce at 336-210-3548 or e-mail joyce@hermangroup.com. FIND OUT WHAT YOUR EMPLOYEES REALLY THINK AND FEEL Discover what’s really going on in the hearts and minds of your employees. Our InnerViews interviewing service uses SPHRs and PHRs, certified human resource professionals to probe for the information you really need to know. Exit and Stay Interviews, as well as Why-Didn't-You-Take-Our-Offer Interviews. Call Rosalie Catalano at 937-416-7066, or read more at: http://www.hermangroup.com/retentionconnection/exit_interviews.html. Herman Trend Alerts are produced by the Herman Group, strategic business futurists, Certified Management Consultants, authors, and professional speakers. New subscribers are welcome. There is no charge for this public service. 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