ClearRock

As the Massachusetts unemployment rate has decreased this year, so has the average length of time it is taking for laid-off executives and managers to find new jobs, according to ClearRock.

Through the first 9 months of 2011, January through September, the executives and managers found new jobs within an average of 16 weeks - 24 percent less time than the average of 21 weeks it took to find new employment during the first 9 months of 2010, according to ClearRock.

Contributing to the shorter job-search time has been the drop in Massachusetts' unemployment rate to 7.3 percent from 8.8 percent a year ago. The state's unemployment rate is 20 percent below the national unemployment rate of 9.1 percent  

"Although the national unemployment rate has not changed much in the past year, the state's faster recovery is helping area executives and managers who were laid off to find new jobs and land them in less time than a year ago," said Annie Stevens, managing partner with ClearRock.

Industries in which the professionals have found jobs this year include biopharma, health care, high-tech, financial services, higher education, government, and nonprofit. "The executives and managers are being hired more often in these industries than others," said Stevens.

The latest time period reflects the continued improvement in the length of job searches for laid-off executives and managers. During the first three months of 2011, the average job-search time of 16 weeks was 36 percent shorter than the average of 25 weeks for the January-March 2010 period. "The shorter job-search times are a result of more job openings this year than last year as the local economy has improved," said Stevens.

Networking remains the top way in which the executives and managers are finding new employment. Seven out of 10 laid-off executives and managers found new jobs through networking. Other ways they are finding employment are through executive search firms, Internet job board postings and applying directly to employers.

Included in the survey are more than 400 Boston-area executives and managers who were laid off and received outplacement career counseling assistance from ClearRock.

Among the reasons why they are finding jobs faster this year are, according to ClearRock:

• Being more receptive to contract work. One-third more employers plan to hire contract workers this year than last year, according to a survey by CareerBuilder. "Companies are more often hiring employees on a contract basis, and people are more willing to get on board first and show their new employers what they can do," said Stevens.
• Increasing use of social media in job searches. 56 percent of employers are using social media networks when recruiting candidates in 2011, up from 34 percent in 2010, according to a survey by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). "More people are finding jobs through making connections on social media websites such as LinkedIn. Employers are also more often directly contacting people for jobs and contract work after searching their LinkedIn profiles," said Stevens.
• Greater flexibility. "As overall hiring remains slow, people are being more flexible about job possibilities. They are taking jobs that may be less than the positions they were expecting," said Stevens.