Interactive web/technology hiring is up—way up! As we’ve been speaking with clients and visiting with hiring managers over the past weeks and months, one trend we’ve noticed in particular is that everyone is talking about their interactive hiring needs. Demand is definitely way up. Maybe you’ve noticed it too.

According to a recent report from Monster.com [link], even in the Boston Metro area, which has only recently rebounded from a drawn-out dip in the economy, the unemployment is now at its lowest point since mid-2001. Job postings on Monster are up a whopping 74% compared to last year, so it's obvious that local firms are finally hiring again. But get this: in Creative and Marketing, the number of jobs has grown 91%. And, for Interactive/E-Commerce expertise, it's actually up 133%, with specific job titles, such as "Web User Interface Designer" up a whopping 344%! Wow! What’s going on!?

For one thing, the web is back. Web 2.0 is getting a lot of press these days, with the growth in social networking sites growing exponentially. However, the rest of the web is growing as well, which means that the need for talented staff who can build and maintain sites and web rankings is up as well. Yet there’s the rub. As “fallout” from the dot.com bust of a few years ago, many of the folks who had been in our industry previously have left the industry, and many junior and mid-level jobs are now going unfilled. Meanwhile, with the economy picking up overall, the pool of available job seekers in the Boston Metro area has actually decreased 4% compared with the same period last year, which means there’s also a lot more competition for all roles.

The result: not enough people to go around, and our clients and hiring managers are beginning to feel the pinch. For the really hard-to-fill roles (e.g. Web/Interactive), it’s clear that only a tailored and focused approach to sourcing and recruiting will help ensure continued access to the best candidates. So based on the growing demand, CM Access has responded by launching our own Interactive search group. By assigning additional bandwidth to these hard-to-fill jobs, our goal is to actually have the connections and talent available when you need them. Although for the short term there may not be enough of us to go around, we encourage you to contact us sooner than later!

Ben Gregg | Manager, Interactive Technology Search
CM Access | Your Link to Creative & Marketing Talent
One Thompson Square | Boston, MA 02129 | 800.330.4110
bgregg@cmaccess.com | www.cmaccess.com | c: 617-953-1040