Job Search Intelligence (JSI), a leading salary calculator and provider of compensation data has developed a new graphing program to present industry wage trends to job seekers and employers. The graph is driven by JSI’s proprietary salary datasets and will bring clarity to a labor force, which is being misled by some media reports regarding recent wage trends. http://jobsearchintelligence.com/
Paul Hill, the President of JSI, states, “Job seekers have been led to believe that the sky is falling, and in a few industries it truly is. However, job seekers should not be misled into thinking that wage deflation is broad based. The media continues to publish worst case scenarios, without balancing the horror stories with a proper overall assessment of wage trends. This causes problems for people seeking employment as they will, in many cases simply settle for whatever salary is offered, rather than negotiating from an informed position.”
Data provided by JSI shows that the general trend for wages is still upward, although the rate of growth has declined by approximately 50% from what we have seen in recent years. Since the mid 1990’s, the US labor market has seen annual wage growth of about 3% to 4% annually. When comparing March of 2008 to March of this year, wage growth for the entire labor force is 1.5%. When you analyze specific industries, you will certainly find that compensation for manufacturing workers of durable goods is trending down. The same is true for those employed in the retail sector.
UCLA Professor, Daniel Nathanson added, “With the JSI salary data, job seekers can know in advance what kind of market they’re stepping in to. This program shows clearly that if you’re in health care, education, and most industries for that matter, you’ve still got some bargaining power.”
Dr. Nathanson continued, “The disruptions in the labor markets are unprecedented. Historically, 1 out of every 25 occupations would see real wage declines. Now, our data is showing wage deflation for about 1 out of every 10 occupations.”