Survey: More than half unemployed more than a year
Survey: More than half unemployed more than a year
Though accelerated job creation failed to materialize in 2011, callers to an annual job-search advice hotline were more optimistic than their counterparts a year ago. Nearly 30 percent estimated they would find a new job within three months, up from 18 percent who said the same in 2010, according to a survey by global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
However, even though the percentage of optimistic callers surged from a year earlier, so did the percent of those predicting it would take more than a year to find employment. Ten percent of the job seekers felt their job searches would last more than 12 months, compared with 4 percent who anticipated a prolonged job search last year.
Among the unemployed callers, 37 percent have been out of work for one to six months. Another 14 percent have been jobless for seven to 12 months. As an indication of how tight the job market remains, the remaining 50 percent of callers had been jobless for a year or more, with 60 percent of these longtime job seekers out of work for two years or longer.
The results are based on a random sampling of 600 callers to a job-search advice helpline offered annually by the Challenger, Gray & Christmas. During the two-day event, the firm’s professional counselors helped more than 1,000 job seekers, 77 percent of whom were unemployed. That was down only slightly from the previous two years, when 81 percent of callers were out of work.
“There was a lot more uncertainty a year ago. Almost half of last year’s callers had no idea how long the job search would take,” CEO John Challenger said in a release. “This year, callers were either certain of the job market’s improvement or certain of its continued weakness,” he said.
Though accelerated job creation failed to materialize in 2011, callers to an annual job-search advice hotline were more optimistic than their counterparts a year ago. Nearly 30 percent estimated they would find a new job within three months, up from 18 percent who said the same in 2010, according to a survey by global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
However, even though the percentage of optimistic callers surged from a year earlier, so did the percent of those predicting it would take more than a year to find employment. Ten percent of the job seekers felt their job searches would last more than 12 months, compared with 4 percent who anticipated a prolonged job search last year.
Among the unemployed callers, 37 percent have been out of work for one to six months. Another 14 percent have been jobless for seven to 12 months. As an indication of how tight the job market remains, the remaining 50 percent of callers had been jobless for a year or more, with 60 percent of these longtime job seekers out of work for two years or longer.
The results are based on a random sampling of 600 callers to a job-search advice helpline offered annually by the Challenger, Gray & Christmas. During the two-day event, the firm’s professional counselors helped more than 1,000 job seekers, 77 percent of whom were unemployed. That was down only slightly from the previous two years, when 81 percent of callers were out of work.
“There was a lot more uncertainty a year ago. Almost half of last year’s callers had no idea how long the job search would take,” CEO John Challenger said in a release. “This year, callers were either certain of the job market’s improvement or certain of its continued weakness,” he said.
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