AUSTIN JOB POSTINGS REPORT FEBRUARY 2018

AUSTIN - ROUND ROCK - SAN MARCOS MSA
(JANUARY 14, 2018 to FEBRUARY 13, 2018)
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INSIGHTS

• Business and Financial Operations Occupations saw the strongest growth in Available Jobs Postings year-to-year, mostly for Management Analysts, Accountants, Human Resources Specialists and Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists.

• 41,000 Available Job Postings during February 2018, about 1,275 more postings than February 2017.

• Office and Administrative Support Occupations saw the largest decline in postings, mostly for Office Clerks, General and Customer Support Representatives. After Business and Financial Operations Occupations, Architecture and Engineering Occupations also saw strong growth in postings, mostly for Industrial Engineers, Electronic Engineers, Except Computer and Electrical Engineers.

• Microsoft Office is the top hard skill in demand.

• The share of New Job Postings compared to Available Job Postings is approximately 48 percent in February 2018. Compared to the previous month, this is a 7 percentage point increase as more new unique jobs are posted.

• According to the Texas Workforce Commission, the Austin MSA reported an unemployment rate of 3.0% or 35,000 unemployed in January 2018, lower than the 3.5% or 39,800 reported in January 2017. The current labor force for the Austin MSA is 1,170,900, an increase of 36,600 when compared to the same time last year.

• In February 2018, 66 percent of Available Job Postings were Less than 59 days old.

• More jobs ahead. Companies recently announced new location or expansion plans in the Austin MSA, representing about 1,170 plus jobs. The expansion list includes XO Group, Springbox, Sinc USA, Sailpoint Technologies, Progressive Insurance, New Knowledge, Liquid Environmental Solutions, Cuvee Coffee, Baylor Scott & White and ArtCraft Entertainment and JRS Company (Covina, CA) is the company that announced a new office in our region.

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 January 14, 2018 to February 13, 2018, 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 41,000 Available Job Postings during the February 2018 monthly reporting period, about 1,275 more postings when compared to February 2017.

About 7,400 or 18 percent of the Available Job Postings during the February reporting period fell under Computer and Mathematical Occupations. The Business and Financial Operations Occupations saw the largest increase in year-to-year postings.

The Major Occupational Groups that saw more than 200 year-to-year increases in Available Job Postings, when compared to February 2017, are Business and Financial Operations Occupations and Architecture and Engineering Occupations, Management Occupations and Education, Training, and Library Occupations. 48 percent or about 20,000 are New Job Postings.

According to the Texas Workforce Commission, the Austin MSA reported an unemployment rate of 3.0% or 35,000 unemployed in January 2018, lower than the 3.5% or 39,800 reported in January 2017. 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. According to the American Community Survey 2011-2015, there are 76,142 employed individuals living below the poverty line and 99,296 families living at less than 200 percent of poverty.

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 February 2014 through February 2018.

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

Note: The data for February 2018 would be the sum of all posted ads from January 14, 2018 to February 13, 2018. 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.

In February 2018, New Job Postings represented almost 20,000 or 48 percent of job postings, slightly lower when compared to February 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 January 14, 2018 to February 13, 2018.

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

Registered Nurses and Retail Salespersons both saw a 150 or more increase in year-to-year postings. Office Clerks, General and Network and Computer Systems Administrators had 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 January 14, 2018 to February 13, 2018.

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, or about 6,200 postings, require less than an associate's degree as the typical education needed for entry. Retail Salespersons and Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners posted an annual median wage of less than $30,000 in the Austin MSA. First-Line positions in retail, food preparation and office administration do pay an annual median wage of close to $40,000 and above, it would also require some years of related work experience. First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers is the hardest to fill in the First-Line positions.

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 January 14, 2018 to February 13, 2018.

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

Computer and Mathematical Occupations saw a modest increase of about 200 year-to-year Available Job Postings. Information Technology Project Managers and Software Developers, Applications saw a greater share of year-to-year increase in Available Job Postings.

Network and Computer Systems Administrators saw the largest decline in year-to-year Available Job Postings.

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 January 14, 2018 to February 13, 2018.

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 Apple, Inc., Merck, Booz Allen Hamilton, General Electric, Home Depot, Whole Foods and HomeAway posted 30 or more year-to-year increase in postings under this category.

Compared nationwide, the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos MSA now has a lower hiring difficulty for Computer and Mathematical Occupations. The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria MSA, Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell MSA, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA, Boston-Cambridge-Newton MSA, Chicago-Naperville-Elgin MSA, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington MSA and the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood MSA have a higher hiring difficulty in this occupational category 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 January 14, 2018 to February 13, 2018.

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

Registered Nurses saw the largest increase in Available Job Postings while Pharmacy Technicians saw the largest decline in year-to-year postings.

All the Top 20 occupations in this category pay an annual median wage of more than $30,000 in the Austin MSA.

Ascension Health, Baylor Scott & White and Seton Family of Hospitals, TX, all had an increase of 100 or more year-to-year Available Job Postings.

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 January 14, 2018 to February 13, 2018.

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.

Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians pays an annual median wage of $60,660 and requires an associate's degree, it is an occupation that is hard to fill in our region, after Surgical Technologists, which pay an annual median wage of $44,390 and requires a postsecondary nondegree award.

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 January 14, 2018 to February 13, 2018.

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 January 14, 2018 to February 13, 2018, 2,321 job postings required “Java” as a skill and 30% or more of those 2,231 job postings also had other required/optional skill(s) such as “Python", Linux" and "JavaScript (JS)".

Hard skills that have seen an increase of 300 or more increase in year-to-year postings are Microsoft Office, Python, Salesforce CRM SFDC, Behavioral Health and Customer Relationship Management.

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 January 14, 2018 to February 13, 2018.

Certifications in Demand provides a real-time view of certifications currently in demand by employers. For example, of the available job postings from January 14, 2018 to February 13, 2018, 4,347 job postings required “Certified Registered Nurse” as a certification and 30% or more of those 4,347 job postings also had other required/optional certification(s) such as “Basic Life Support (BLS)”.

Certifications that saw an increase of 400 or more postings are Basic Life Support (BLS), Driver's License, Certified Registered Nurse (RN) and Secret Clearance.

TOP EMPLOYERS

The table below lists the employers in the Austin - Round Rock - San Marcos MSA that posted available unique ads from January 14, 2018 to February 13, 2018.

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

Ascension Health, General Electric, Apple Inc., The University of Texas System and Baylor Scott & White Health are the companies that have seen an increase of more than 200 Available Job Postings year-to-year. For New Job Postings in February 2018, Ascension Health, Goodwill Industries, General Electric and Austin Energy saw a year-to-year increase of 100 or more postings.

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

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