TheLadders.com Logo The Most $100k+ Jobs

Search Jobs

Search Jobs

TheLadders.com Quarterly Executive Employment Outlook: Exec Optimism Trending Downward; Current Market Still Deemed Better than Last Year

Technology, Telecom, and Industrial Sectors Show Most Growth in Third Quarter <Back

NEW YORK (October 4, 2005) - With consumer spending and corporate earnings continuing to grow in the face of skyrocketing energy costs, economists are calling the US economy resilient. Do executives in the $100k+ job market share that thick-skinned view? According to a survey conducted by TheLadders.com, the world's leading $100k+ online job resource, market sentiment in the third quarter of 2005 remains largely optimistic, though it is trending downward for the second quarter in a row.

Executive Survey

In general, executives surveyed by TheLadders.com felt good about the current job market. When asked: is now a better time to be in the job market than this time last year, 62% of the survey's respondents said yes. When this survey was last conducted in June 2005, a slightly higher percentage (68%) of respondents answered positively. In the first quarter of 2005, the optimistic majority was even stronger, standing at 77% (see chart below).

When asked to forecast the length of their job searches, respondents congregated in the middle: 37% predicted a 3-6 month hunt; 26% anticipated a 1-3 month search; and 24% expected to be in the market for 6-12 months. Thirteen percent of the executives surveyed think their job search will take over a year. These numbers are virtually unchanged from the June 2005 survey (see chart below).

A recurring trend in the Executive Job Market Outlook is the expectation for lots of legwork. Thirty-four percent of respondents said they expect to send out over 100 applications before getting an offer; 26% said they'd need to apply to 20-50 jobs before an offer is made; 24% anticipated it taking between 50 and 100 applications to shake out an offer; and 16% thought it would require less than 20 applications to land their next gigs. These numbers are consistent with the June 2005 survey (see chart below).

Regional Job Market Data

The Boom Report

In conjunction with its executive survey, TheLadders.com assessed $100k hiring trends throughout the U.S. At the sector level, the technology/telecommunication sector rebounded from a poor second quarter with strong growth, and the industrial sector continued its upward trend. The health,/biology/pharmaceuticals, consumer, and media/advertising/marketing sectors showed slight declines, while the services sector showed a sharp drop in the third quarter. TheLadders.com also evaluated regional markets throughout the U.S. to ascertain which companies are aggressively hiring at the $100k level, and which companies were most sought out by $100k+ professionals. For more information, please visit http://cdn.theladders.net/static/boom, or contact us directly at the numbers listed below.

"Now is the time to be in the executive job market. While job seeking dipped in the spring and early summer months, several factors point to a large hiring push happening in the fourth quarter. The national unemployment rate is at its lowest level since 2001, and we've heard from scores of recruiters that August and September have far surpassed their placement expectations. Companies are aggressively looking to hire top talent," explained TheLadders.com President and CEO, Marc Cenedella.

The survey portion of TheLadders.com Quarterly Executive Employment Outlook is based on a series of independent surveys of registered $100k+ executives conducted by TheLadders.com between September 20, 2005 and September 29, 2005. The number of responses and margin of error for each survey is as follows:

  • How long do you think it will take for you to land your next job? 795 Responses; Margin of Error: +/- 4%.
  • Is now a better time to be in the job market than this time last year? 553 Responses; Margin of Error: +/- 4%.
  • How many job listings do you reasonably think you'll need to apply to before getting an offer? 996 Responses; Margin of Error: +/- 3%.

The regional job market data portion of the Quarterly Executive Employment Outlook is based on TheLadders.com's analysis of all $100k+ job listings posted on company Web sites throughout the Internet, along with exclusive job postings submitted by employers directly to TheLadders.com.

Charts:

job searchjobsjob search engine

<Back

About TheLadders.com
Headquartered in New York, TheLadders.com, Inc. is a privately held company offering online job search services to recruiters and job seekers in the $100k+ employment market. Ex-HotJobs.com executive Marc Cenedella founded TheLadders.com in 2003 to address the unique job seeking and recruiting requirements in this market sector. Investors include leading venture capital firm Matrix Partners and prominent private investors such as Kevin Ryan, CEO, DoubleClick, Tom Matlack, Megunticook Management, and Robert Chefitz, NJTC Venture Fund.

In addition to its primary member-based site, the Company operates vertical job search Web sites for sales, marketing, finance, human resources, law, technology, and operations. All sites feature daily job updates as well as industry-specific weekly e-newsletters. For corporate and executive recruiters, TheLadders.com delivers the same highly personalized experience. TheLadders for Recruiters (www.recruitladder.com) enables them to easily post $100k+ job openings at no charge. The Company further differentiates itself from other online job boards that fall prey to fraudulent job postings by implementing human mediated search, ensuring all job postings are fully qualified before being published to members.

More information about TheLadders.com can be accessed at www.theladders.com.

Note to editors: Trademarks and registered trademarks remain the property of their respective owners.

Media Contacts
Maria Schiller
TheLadders.com
646-453-1913
maria.schiller@theladders.com