Upswing Predicted For Telecom Hiring In 2002

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Jobs in the telecommunications industry may not be plentiful right now. But a new study from TelecomCareers.net has a clear message for job seekers: Just wait.

The online job board surveyed more than 600 recruiting and human-resources professionals who opted into an online survey, a Telecomcareers.net spokesperson said. Among staffing companies, 72% said they expect telecom hiring to pick up by the second quarter of 2002. Seventy-four percent of telecom hiring companies reported they plan to resume “growth hiring” by the third quarter. Leading that growth will be telecom sales and technical jobs, according those surveyed.

More good news for those wanting a job in the sector: Only seven percent of staffing and hiring pros surveyed said their companies planned to reduce the number of employees in 2002. In fact, more half of them said they will add employees this year, the Web site said.

“As the industry prepares for a lean 2002, with streamlined operations and more conservative business plans, it’s encouraging to see that many companies have made plans to add new hires in the coming months,” said Kara Nelson, director of media services at TelecomCareers.Net.

The telecommunications sector may have been bruised and battered in 2001, but TelecomCareers.net’s survey showed that those surveyed are at least moderately bullish about the industry. Of the respondents who work at telecom companies expecting to hire in 2002, 4% said they felt “extremely strong” about the industry, while 45% said they had “strong” feelings about the sector, and 40% felt “mediocre.” Nine percent said they felt “weak” about the sector, while only 2% feel “extremely weak.”

Of the telecom staffing companies, only 2% said they felt the strength and resilience of the industry would be “extremely strong.” But 34% said the industry would be “strong,” while 46% said it would be “mediocre.” Fifteen percent said the industry would be “weak,” and 3% said it would be “extremely weak.”

As the overall majority comes in somewhere between “strong” and “mediocre,” the collective sentiment of cautious optimism that has pervaded the industry in recent weeks is reinforced by those surveyed, TelecomCareers.net said.

Seventy-five percent of the people who responded to the survey, though, indicated that they are feeling secure in their own jobs, which “bodes well for telecom job seekers hoping to be recruited this year,” the Web site added.

TelecomCareers.Net claims to be the “world’s largest telecom-focused career site,” with over 70,000 registered users and more than 500 top telecom companies advertising job openings.

This story was first published on OpticallyNetworked.com, an internet.com site.