Simply Hired Blog

Job Competition by Metro Area

Finding a job isn’t easy. But there are some job markets in the US where it’s easier to find jobs than others.

Simply Hired has recently released data on the best and worst markets for job seekers. These lists were determined by the ratio of job seekers to unique open positions (duplicates removed) in metro areas around the country.

According to our data, these are the five best markets for job seekers:

1. Des Moines – Ames, IA – 5 job seekers to every 1 job
2. Washington, DC – 5 job seekers to every 1 job
3. Omaha, NE – 5 job seekers to every 1 job
4. West Palm Beach – Fort Pierce, FL – 6 job seekers to every 1 job
5. Salt Lake City, UT – 8 job seekers to every 1 job

And these are the 5 worst job markets for job seekers:  

1. Detroit, MI – 46 job seekers to every 1 job
2. Grand Rapids – Kalamazoo – Battle, MI – 35 job seekers to every 1 job
3. Miami – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – 29 job seekers to every 1 job
4. Sacramento – Stockton – Modesto, CA – 28 job seekers to every 1 job
5. Las Vegas, NV – 26 job seekers to every 1 job

The End of the Recession is Upon Us…

… or at least that’s what some economists think.

There has been a lot of talk about various indicators including the GDP report, unemployment rate, number of jobless claims, stock prices, etc. to determine whether or not the recession is over or not. But it’s hard to say for sure when we’re really out of the recession until we’re looking back on it.

Not to throw any more indicators out there, but Simply Hired collects and compiles a large amount of data in regards to one of the factors of the recession that may affect you the most directly: employment trends. Looking at Simply Hired’s trends data, you can see that while there are many industries that have been hit hard during this recession, many are faring well.

While employment in the private sector has been decreasing, government jobs have steadily increased since the recession began in December 2007. Despite about 50,000 state and local government jobs lost, over 110,000 have been added, most likely due to the federal stimulus program. Simply Hired trends data shows that government jobs have increased 41% overall since the beginning of the recession with a break down of federal jobs increasing 66%, state jobs increasing 30% and local jobs increasing 20%. (For some more info on government job trends, you can read this report by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government.)

Federal, State, County, City, Local, Government trends

Federal jobs | State jobs | County jobs | City jobs | Local jobs | Government jobs

Other industries that have been faring well include education, transportation and healthcare. Education jobs have increased 9% since December 2007 (teacher jobs specifically have increased 83%), transportation jobs increased 25%, while healthcare jobs jumped up 110% since the beginning of the recession.

To find out how your industry is faring, use Simply Hired’s employment trends.

Who is the fittest one of all?

For the past few months, the folks at Simply Hired have been shaping up – and I mean literally. We’ve had an ongoing fitness competition in the office where we have been running, spinning, lifting and sweating our way into better shape. Plus, we love a good competition.

 Each employee has been logging their workouts on a fitness tracking site, in which each activity is assigned a certain amount of points based on the duration and intensity of the workout. And this is a pretty comprehensive and up-to-date list that even includes Nintendo Wii Sports as an activity that can be logged.

The competition runs on two levels: an individual level to see who rack up the most points (daily results are posted in the kitchen of all places) as well as a team level with combined points and number of days worked out.

In addition to the workout log, Fitness Challenges are held regularly in which members from each team take each other on in a head to head challenges of strength, speed, balance and technique to earn some extra points for their team. Examples of past events include push-ups, leg lifts, planks, and balancing on one leg in various positions.

Currently Simply Hired’s employees have racked up a solid combined 850 days worked out and a whopping 542,708 points! To give you an idea of how difficult it is to earn points in this competition, here’s a list of activities and their corresponding amount of points:

Activity	Intensity	Duration	Points
Walking	Moderate	30 minutes	110
Running	Moderate	30 minutes	305
Yoga	General	45 minutes	101
Weight Training	Vigorous	45 minutes	261
Bicycling	Moderate	45 minutes	392
Basketball	Moderate	1 hour 30 minutes	522

May the fittest team win!

Simply Hired Goes Back to School

It’s that time of the year again: Back to School time! Each year, Simply Hired participates in a backpack drive to donate bags filled with school supplies to the Family Giving Tree. Backpack wish cards were posted around the office for employees to take that contained information about the student who would receive their backpack, as well as a list of school supplies. This year, through donations in the form of physical backpacks, online donations and checks, we were able to provide 70 packs for students of all ages in need.

School is now in session!

Just Browsing Around

I admit, I’m towards the far end of the spectrum in terms of indecisiveness. Conversations that happen way too often include:

Sales person: “Can I help you find anything today?”
Me: “No, thanks. I’m just looking around.”

Parent: “What are you doing with your life? What do you want to be doing in 5 years?”
Me: “I have absolutely no idea. Hopefully I’ll still be alive. That’s a start, right?”

Whether you’re as indecisive as I am, or you just want to do a quick search of jobs in your area, you can use Simply Hired’s Browse Jobs option. Browse Jobs allows you to view job listings based on a broader criteria, such as job category, location, company name, or industry.

New users will see a portion of the Browse capabilities on the homepage in the form of links to job listings by category, such as Accounting / Finance, Healthcare / Nursing, Part Time. Beneath these categories, you will find more browsing capabilities by following the link to Browse Job Listings. It can also be found by clicking the Browse Jobs link on the bottom of the homepage or top of any search results page.

The Browse Jobs area is a great way for you to get started with a search. For instance, say you are interested in retail jobs. By clicking Retail & Warehouse Jobs, you are taken to a more specific browse page with even more specific categories of jobs within the industry such as General Merchandise Stores, Food Wholesalers and even Nonstore Retailers. These take you to search results pages where you can find actual job listings and further narrow down your search to find your perfect job!

Even if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for in your next job, we can start you in the right direction.