High-End Job Market Sees Surge in Activity

TheLadders.com Quarterly Executive Employment Outlook Takes Pulse of Nationwide $100,000 Job Market

US employers added 167,000 jobs to nonfarm payrolls in December, sending a signal of strong economic health for the American economy. What does this growth mean for the higher-end $100,000 job market? Weíll see a spike in job-hopping activity this January, according to TheLadders.com, the worldís leading online service for $100,000 jobs. The companyís Quarterly Executive Employment Outlook for Q406 found that opportunities abound for the nationís top earners and top employers.

ìExecutives tend to job-hop more frequently in a strong economy and hunker down when things are slower. So, the headline Labor Department number sends ripple effects into the high-end market,î said Marc Cenedella, president and CEO of TheLadders.com. ìThis year, weíre seeing a perfect storm of strong econometrics, seasonality and good old fashioned optimism come together to boost activity in the $100,000 market.î

Regional Job Market Analysis
TheLadders.comís Executive Employment Outlook measured hiring activity across a variety of metrics and found the hottest $100,000 job markets to be San Francisco, New York, Boston, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and San Diego. Thanks in large part to renewed growth in the technology and Internet sectors, San Francisco has emerged as the top talent magnet; itís the metro area with the highest number of job-seekers from other locations looking to get into the Bay Area. San Francisco also has the least competition for every available job; it currently boasts a 1:1 ratio between job seekers and job postings on TheLadders.com. Among the firms doing the most high-end hiring in the region are Cisco Systems, eBay, Sun Microsystems, Google and Charles Schwab.

Elsewhere in the U.S., New York and Boston have also seen exceptional strength in the financial and healthcare sectors. Companies such as Citigroup, Fidelity Investments, Ernst and Young, Schering-Plough, Wyeth and The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory all contribute to the allure of the east coast. Likewise, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Chicago and San Diego have maintained a steady balance of job openings and job-seeking activity.

The tightest markets among the top 20 DMAs in he US are Detroit, Tampa and Dallas. All three have seen decreases in out-of-state job searches and stiff competition for every available opening.

Survey Results
Among active job seekers, optimism reigned supreme in the fourth quarter of 2006. A strong majority (62 percent) of executives said that now is a better time to be in the job market than last year. Moreover, 36 percent anticipated having to apply to less than 20 job listings before getting an offer. During the same period last year, the same percentage of job seekers anticipated having to apply to 20-50 listings. Optimism is on the rise. Likewise, 35 percent of this yearís job seekers expect to be in the job market for just 3 months or less. In 2005, executives braced for longer 3-6 month searches.

In a sign that January will live up to its reputation as the prime time for executive job searches, 32 percent of those surveyed by TheLadders.com said they knew of at least 2 peers who were also actively seeking a new position.

The Quarterly Executive Employment Outlook is based on an analysis of recruiting activity on TheLadders.com and an independent survey of registered $100,000 executives during the fourth quarter of 2006. The number of executives that responded to the survey was 1,582. The margin of error for the survey is 2.53 percentage points.

Complete city-by-city data and survey results are available. Please contact John Roderick at 631-656-9736, or john@jroderick.com to receive more information.