Heather Boulger, Director for the Berkshire County Regional Employment Board, recently compiled a list of predictions for workforce development in 2012. The original article was published in Berkshire Business News, February 1, 2012. Here are her top 6 predictions:

1. Skills Gap – According to a 2010 study by the Society of Human Resource Management, only 32% of US college graduates have “excellent” skills as they enter the working world and only 16% of high-school graduates are equipped with these skills. Young people are less prepared than ever, and so employers are adopting new online recruiting strategies, new employee screening processes, new hire training including basic math and reading skills, improved apprenticeship and mentoring programs, and other on-the-job training and development programs.
2. Resume Overload – More people are seeking jobs than ever before. Recruiters seeking hourly workers receive an average of 144 resumes per position, and recruiters for white-collar jobs get more than 90 resumes per position. Because it is harder than ever to sort out the best candidates, many companies use assessment tools and pre-hire simulations to help prescreen candidates.
3. Employee Retention – Retention could turn out to be the highest-economic impact area in all of talent management in the upcoming year. Almost every survey shows that more than a majority of employees are willing to quit their current job as soon as a better opportunity comes along.
4. Social Media – In 2012 social media will increase its impact by becoming more data-driven. Thanks to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other services, your employment brand is “out there” whether you like it or not and whether you put it out there or not. Companies will try to attract the best candidates through a clear articulation of their strategy and a clear definition of the people they are hiring.
5. Telework- Telecommuting and virtual work changes everything in talent management. The continued growth of technology, social media, and easy communications now makes it possible for most knowledge work and team activities to occur remotely.
6. Contingency/Part-time Workforce – It is easier than ever to pick up your newly found skills and take them elsewhere. More than 40% of the U.S. workforce now works part-time or on a contract basis. Data from the last quarter of 2010 showed that contigent workers accounted for nearly 68% of new private sector jobs. Young people (particularly the under-30 age group) have rewritten the definition of work. It turns out that the workforce is becoming much younger very quickly. By 2013, 47% of all employees will be those born after 1977.