AUSTIN JOB POSTINGS REPORT AUGUST 2017

AUSTIN - ROUND ROCK - SAN MARCOS MSA
(JULY 14, 2017 to AUGUST 13, 2017)
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INSIGHTS

• Many job openings, but fewer than a year ago. 39,100 Available Job Postings during August 2017, or 3,400 less compared to August 2016.

• Job postings in August 2017 is lower than August of past three years. The Austin MSA saw more than 42,000 Available Job Postings in August of 2014, 2015 and 2016 but is below 42,000 in August 2017.

• Demand for Tech talent remains high. Eight of the Top 20 occupations are tech-related. Registered Nurses is the top posted occupation currently for August 2017 while Marketing Managers saw the largest year-to-year increase in postings for all occupations posted.

• Plenty of middle wage jobs available. Almost half of the Top 20 occupations posted require less than an associate's degree as the typical education needed for entry, representing about 5,500 postings. All but two, Retail Salesperson and Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners, posted an annual median wage of $30,000 or more in the Austin MSA. Almost one-fifth of all Available Job Postings that require at least a high school diploma, also pays an annual median wage of between $30,000 to $60,000. Two-fifths of all Available Job Postings require no formal credential or high school equivalency as the Typical Education Needed for Entry, though most of these would require short-term/moderate-term on-the job training and/or related work experience. About five percent of Available Job Postings would require an Associate's degree as the Typical Education Needed for Entry, almost all do not require additional work experience nor on-the-job training.

• Unemployment tops 36,400. According to the Texas Workforce Commission, the Austin MSA reported an unemployment rate of 3.2% or 36,400 unemployed in July 2017.

• More jobs ahead. Companies recently announced new location or expansion plans in the Austin MSA, about 800 jobs. The list includes Stantec, Silvercar, Merck & Co., Gold Rush Vinyl, Dialpad, Bright Pearl and Arrive Logistics.

The following job market report is designed to provide insight into current employer demands, skills and occupations in the Austin MSA.

TOP JOB POSTINGS

The chart and table below lists the available unique ads in major occupation groups from July 14, 2017 to August 13, 2017, a mid-monthly timeframe closely associated with federal jobs numbers.

Source: The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine ® (HWOL)

Source: The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine ® (HWOL)

There were approximately 39,100 Available Job Postings during the August 2017 monthly reporting period, a decrease of about 3,400 Available Job Postings compared to August 2016. About 7,100 or 18 percent of the Available Job Postings during the August reporting period fell under Computer and Mathematical Occupations. 48 percent or 19,000 are New Job Postings, the lowest for the month of August when compared to August 2013 through August 2016, which were above 21,000.

The Major Occupational Groups that saw the largest decline in the volume of Available Job Postings compared to August 2016 are Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations, followed by Office and Administrative Support Occupations, Sales and Related Occupations, and Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations. Computer and Mathematical Occupations had the largest volume of Available Job Postings for August 2017.

According to the Texas Workforce Commission, the Austin MSA reported an unemployment rate of 3.2% or 36,400 unemployed in July 2017. This represents an decrease of 2,200 unemployed compared to June 2017 which had a 3.4% unemployment rate or 38,600 unemployed. Approximately 63% of unemployment insurance (UI) claimants that are actively seeking a job in Travis County have less than an associate's degree, according to Workforce Solutions Capital Area.

MONTHLY AD TRENDS

The line chart below shows the monthly total volume of online ads posted in the Austin - Round Rock - San Marcos MSA from August 2013 through August 2017.

Source: The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine ® (HWOL)

Note: The data for August 2017 would be the sum of all posted ads from July 14, 2017 to August 13, 2017. This reference period is aligned to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) unemployment job search time period to provide a more accurate comparison of labor supply and labor demand.

The Austin MSA saw more than 42,000 Available Job Postings in August 2014 through August 2016 but is below 42,000 in August 2017.

TOP 20 JOB POSTINGS

The chart below lists the top 20 unique available job postings in the Austin – Round Rock – San Marcos MSA from July 14, 2017 to August 13, 2017.

Source: The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine ® (HWOL) and Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2016

Marketing Managers, Software Developers-Applications, Management Analysts, Information Technology Project Managers, Computer Systems Analysts and Computer Systems Engineers/Architects all saw a 100 or more increase in year-to-year postings. Registered Nurses, Customer Service Representatives, Web Developers, Critical Care Nurses, First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers, Computer User Support Specialists, First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers and Nursing Assistants saw a 100 or more decrease in year-to-year postings.

TOP 20 JOB POSTINGS AND HIRING DIFFICULTY

The chart below lists the top 20 unique available job postings and its hiring difficulty in the Austin – Round Rock – San Marcos MSA from July 14, 2017 to August 13, 2017.

Source: Wanted Technologies and the Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Hiring Scale views the difficulty-to-fill indicator on market conditions. It calculates a score for each position that the employer is trying to fill. Several factors affect the hiring scale score that include the supply of available candidates, the overall demand for employers for people in the position, the location, the occupation, local unemployment rates, job site source, offered pay level, etc. The Hiring Score scores jobs from 1 to 99 based on their projected difficulty-to-recruit.

Half of the Top 20 occupations posted require less than an associate's degree as the typical education needed for entry. All but two, Retail Salesperson and Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners, posted an annual median wage of $30,000 or more in the Austin MSA.

Customer Service Representatives, Retail Salespersons, Computer Systems Analysts, Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants and First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers are the easier-to-hire occupations in the Austin MSA. Computer Systems Engineers/Architects, Software Quality Assurance Engineers and Testers, Web Developers, Marketing Managers and Information Technology Project Managers are the job postings that more difficult to fill in our region but also require an associate's or bachelor's degree. Approximately 46 percent of all Available Job Postings require a Bachelor's degree or more.

TOP 20 TECH JOB POSTINGS

The chart below lists the top 20 unique available job postings under Computer and Mathematical Occupations in the Austin – Round Rock – San Marcos MSA from July 14, 2017 to August 13, 2017.

Source: The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine ® (HWOL) and Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2016

Software Developers, Applications saw the largest year-to-year increase in Available Jobs Postings, followed by Information Technology Project Managers and Computer Systems Analysts. Web Developers, Computer User Support Specialists, Network and Computer Systems Administrators and Database Administrators saw the largest decline in Available Job Postings. In terms of New Job Postings, Computer Systems Analysts saw the largest year-to-year increases.

Computer and Mathematical Occupations saw a similar volume of Available Job Postings compared to the same period last year.

TOP 20 TECH JOB POSTINGS AND HIRING DIFFICULTY

The chart below lists the top 20 unique available job postings and its hiring difficulty under Computer and Mathematical Occupations in the Austin – Round Rock – San Marcos MSA from July 14, 2017 to August 13, 2017.

Source: Wanted Technologies and the Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Hiring Scale views the difficulty-to-fill indicator on market conditions. It calculates a score for each position that the employer is trying to fill. Several factors affect the hiring scale score that include the supply of available candidates, the overall demand for employers for people in the position, the location, the occupation, local unemployment rates, job site source, offered pay level, etc. The Hiring Scale scores jobs from 1 to 99 based on their projected difficulty-to-recruit.

Companies such as Amazon, IBM, DELL, Charles Schwab Corporation and ACCENTURE posted the most year-to-year increase in postings under this category.

The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA and the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood MSA have a higher hiring difficulty in this occupational category while the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale MSA has a slightly lower level of hiring difficulty when compared to the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos MSA.

TOP 20 HEALTHCARE JOB POSTINGS

The chart below lists the top 20 unique available job postings under Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations in the Austin – Round Rock – San Marcos MSA from July 14, 2017 to August 13, 2017.

Source: The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine ® (HWOL) and Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2016

Registered Nurses and Critical Care Nurses saw the largest decline in Available Job Postings.

The annual median wage for Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations in the Austin MSA also decreased slightly from $60,740 in 2015 to $60,500 in 2016. All the top occupations in this category pay an annual median wage of more than $30,000 in the Austin MSA.

Ascension, HCA-The Healthcare Company, Seton Family of Hospitals, TX, Scott & White and Austin Medical Center saw more than 100 Available Job Postings.

Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations saw approximately 900 less Available Job Postings compared to the same period last year. In terms of New Job Postings, Registered Nurses, Surgical Technologists, Pharmacy Technicians and Critical Care Nurses saw the largest year-to-year declines.

TOP 20 HEALTHCARE JOB POSTINGS AND HIRING DIFFICULTY

The chart below lists the top 20 unique available job postings and its hiring difficulty under Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations in the Austin – Round Rock – San Marcos MSA from July 14, 2017 to August 13, 2017.

Source: Wanted Technologies and the Bureau of Labor Statistics

The Hiring Scale views the difficulty-to-fill indicator on market conditions. It calculates a score for each position that the employer is trying to fill. Several factors affect the hiring scale score that include the supply of available candidates, the overall demand for employers for people in the position, the location, the occupation, local unemployment rates, job site source, offered pay level, etc. The Hiring Scale scores jobs from 1 to 99 based on their projected difficulty-to-recruit.

Half of these top posted occupations require an associate's degree or less as the typical level of education needed for entry into the occupation. The highest hiring difficulty is for Surgical Technologists which require at least a postsecondary non-degree award and has an annual median wage of $44,390.

TOP HARD SKILLS IN DEMAND

The table below lists the top hard skills in demand for the available jobs in the Austin – Round Rock – San Marcos MSA from July 14, 2017 to August 13, 2017.

Source: Wanted Technologies

Skills in Demand provides a real-time view of skills currently in demand by employers. For example, of the available jobs posted from July 14, 2017 to August 13, 2017, 2,253 job postings required “Java” as a skill and 30% or more of those 2,253 job postings also had other required/optional skill(s) such as “Python", "JavaScript (JS)" and "Linux".

Hard skills that have seen an increase of 200 or more increase in year-to-year postings are Amazon Web Services, SalesForce CRM SFDC, Microsoft Office Visio, Python, Microsoft Windows Azure, English Speaker and Functional Design.

TOP CERTIFICATIONS IN DEMAND

The table below lists the top certifications in demand for the available jobs in the Austin – Round Rock – San Marcos MSA from July 14, 2017 to August 13, 2017.

Certifications in Demand provides a real-time view of certifications currently in demand by employers. For example, of the available job postings from July 14, 2017 to August 13, 2017, 4,391 job postings required “Certified Registered Nurse” as a certification and 30% or more of those 4,391 job postings also had other required/optional certification(s) such as “Basic Life Support (BLS)”.

Certifications that saw an increase of 100 or more postings are Basic Life Support (BLS), Certified Registered Nurse (RN), Driver's License, Early Childhood Education(ECE), Professional Engineer (PE) and Patient Care Technician (PCT).

TOP EMPLOYERS

The table below lists the employers in the Austin - Round Rock - San Marcos MSA that posted available unique ads from July 14, 2017 to August 13, 2017.

Source: The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine ® (HWOL)

Anthem, Inc., Seton Family of Hospitals, TX, General Electric and the Army are the employers that have seen an increase of more than 200 job postings year-to-year. Companies not on this list such as MedOptions, Massage Envy, Starbucks, Fairmont Austin and Forcepoint LLC also saw an increase in year-to-year postings.

Source: The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine ® (HWOL) Program (with data collection by Wanted Technologies)

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