Market Research for Talent, Part 1: Communicating Expectations with Hiring Managers

This article is part one in a series where we discuss simple ways to use labor market data to build your talent strategy.

Scenario: Say you have a consulting business in Charlotte, North Carolina, that produces custom computer programming and web design services. You need more graphic designers, and you are willing to pay $18 per hour.

First, use data to help your hiring managers understand the current labor market conditions for the position. What is the average hourly wage for graphic designers in Charlotte? Is $18 competitive? Will market conditions make recruiting in Charlotte particularly difficult?

Answer: The data shows regional demand; the labor market for graphic designers in Charlotte has grown over 26% since 2013 (more than double the national trend). We also note that there are about 2,000 current graphic designing jobs, and median earnings are $22 per hour. This means you won’t find too many people willing to work for $18, and you might want to rethink your wage offer.

Real-World Example

Senior IT leaders recently met with the workforce planning group at a large retail company to discuss the IT leaders’ difficulty in finding enough candidates with a highly specific set of programming skills. The workforce planners recommended that the IT leaders hire just one employee with the hard-to-find skill and hire the rest of the team without it. The IT leaders followed this advice. They were able to focus resources on recruiting one very niche position, and in the end, staffed the new IT team in a way that was efficient and cost-effective.

If you have questions on how to get started, please let us know. We are ready to help!

Rob Sentz is the chief innovation officer at Emsi. Contact him at [email protected].

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