Central Florida Employment Survey Shows 2018 Will Have Record Hiring and Job Openings

Orlando 2018 Job Report

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

May 7, 2018 – Orlando, FL – The 10th Annual OrlandoJobs.com Employment Survey, in which phone interviews were conducted of 67 companies representing 17 sectors and 167,000 employees in Orlando, finds record hiring across all employment sectors. Central Florida has more workers today (1.29 million) and jobs than ever before. In this survey, it breaks down where the jobs are, who is hiring and employers share what they are doing to recruit qualified workers in a very talent short marketplace.

Central Florida is ranked seventh in the nation for job growth. While many believe it is due to our record-breaking hospitality industry (over 260,000 workers), this is not the real story. Our professional services industry (known for higher paying jobs) added over 13,000 jobs in 2017. This is not slowing down. Other sectors making huge leaps are construction, education, and technology.

“We have jobs everywhere you look in the Orlando region” states Roger Lear, author of the survey and President/CEO of OrlandoJobs.com. “It’s tough to find talent without a huge cost. What is interesting is employers did mention some additional resources they are using like being aided by many people moving to the area each day as well as over 100,000 potential candidates in evacuees from Puerto Rico hurricane. This is helping but still nowhere enough skilled people for all the jobs that are open.”

Additional key findings from the 2018 Central Florida Employment Outlook Survey:

  • A total of 9,432 jobs currently open within the 67 surveyed companies, with another 16,876 jobs predicted to open in the last three quarters of 2018.
  • 52% of surveyed companies indicate that hiring will be better this year than last.
  • 94% of companies plan on hiring at least one person in 2018.
  • 88% of companies currently have open jobs.
  • 35% of companies surveyed will be hiring 50 or more employees in 2018.
  • Surveyed employers need multiple recruiting resources to find talent.
  • Social media recruiting is high on most employers to do list but very few have a formal
    strategy.
  • Top industries hiring in Central Florida are healthcare, skill trades, hospitality, technology,
    construction and education.

“Healthcare, trades, construction, education, and hospitality all need to hire more workers than ever before and just can’t find this talent fast enough” cautions Lear. “In Central Florida, the cost for this war for talent will be won by employers who can adapt their recruiting strategies to multiple recruiting resources with a very clear message of why anyone would work for their company.”

This report asks employers what changes they have made in their recruiting strategies for 2018. For employers reading this report, this information is invaluable as it gives them insight into what their competitors are doing to recruit great talent. For job seekers, this report has the insight to drive home the point that employers are looking for all types of skill sets and your application has to be a close match.

 

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT (Free)

 

 

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