A new study from Jobvite, a leading provider of recruiting software, seeks to answer that question, while examining American job seekers’ experiences.
The 2017 Job Seeker Nation Study, based on responses from 2,000 Americans, provides a look a salary negotiation, workplace diversity, employment opportunities, and more.
Here are few highlights from the report.
Salary and Location
When it comes to salary negotiations, where job seekers live might play a role in their approach. The study finds Westerners are more aggressive about salary than Midwesterners.
- Thirty-six percent of Westerners negotiate salaries, while only 25 percent in the Midwest do.
- Twenty-one percent of West Coast job seekers have used counteroffers to negotiate higher salaries, while only 12 percent of Midwesterners have.
- Twenty-one percent of West Coast job seekers negotiate benefits, compared to 11 percent in the Midwest.
With regard to earnings, 55 percent of Easterners make more money than their parents make/made preretirement, compared to 39 percent in the South and 40 percent in the Midwest.
Higher earnings don’t necessarily translate to peace of mind, however. East Coast workers are most afraid of losing a job within the next year; more than one-quarter of Easterners, 29 percent, express this concern.
Salary and Gender
The report finds that women don’t like negotiating salary, and when they do they still make less than men.
Fifty-six percent of men feel comfortable negotiating salary, compared to 38 percent of women. At their current or most recent job, 26 percent of women negotiated salary, compared to 32 percent of men. Among these respondents, 87 percent of men say negotiation resulted in higher pay, where 80 percent of women said the same.
Meanwhile, 27 percent of women think men are paid more for the same quality of work. However, only 15 percent of men share that view.
Workplace Diversity
An overwhelming majority of workers, 80 percent, believes their employer fosters diversity at work.
Nevertheless, only 32 percent of overall respondents rate diversity as “very important.”
Perception varies depending on race, ethnicity, and gender, however.
Sixty percent of African Americans, for example, rank workplace diversity as “very important,” as do 43 percent of Hispanics. Thirty-two percent of all women rank it as “very important,” while only 29 percent of all men do.
Employment Opportunities
The job search, it seems, has not gotten easier. Nearly half of job seekers, 46 percent, say it’s harder to find a job in 2017 compared to last year.
Industries where people are having the most difficulty finding employment are mining, real estate, construction, and services.
By contrast, job seekers searching in telecommunications, finance, and technology find the job market more welcoming.
People who live in or near large cities appear to have a slight advantage. Job seekers most likely to struggle with finding employment are people making less than $25,000 per year and African Americans, according to the Jobvite study.