Recruiting Growing in Manufacturing and Internet of Things

Recruiting is expanding in many fields including manufacturing and Internet of Things (IoT). This was confirmed today by the U.S. Labor Department, which reported 213,000 new jobs created last month. This resulted in the 93rd straight month of jobs creation, which extended the longest continuous jobs expansion on record!

Recruiting Especially Strong For Technical and Engineering Jobs

Many industries are now expanding staffing plans especially for engineering, scientific, IT (information technology), R&D (research and development) and technical talent. Two fields that stand out are manufacturing and Internet of Things (IoT).

Both have shown a lot of job strength over the past six months. This is confirmed anecdotally by our recruiters who been fielding constant recruitment calls from clients seeking talented engineers, scientists and IT, R&D and technical professionals.

Institute For Supply Management Says Manufacturing Growing

Further recruiting evidence comes from the ISM (Institute for Supply Management), which reported on Thursday that their key manufacturing metric rose 1.5% in June to 60.2. Any reading of 50 or higher indicates manufacturing growth. This marks the 22nd consecutive month of Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) growth. The overall economy has now grown for 110 straight months.

The June PMI reading is 1.2% ahead of the 12-month average of 59.0. Additionally, June marks the third month the PMI has topped 60 in 2018. June 2018, along with September 2017 (which also had a 60.2 reading) is the second-best month over the last 12 months. June also marks the second highest month of 2018 for the PMI, with February’s 60.8 in the top spot.

ISM reported that 17 of the 18 manufacturing sectors reported growth in June, including: Textile Mills; Wood Products; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Fabricated Metal Products; Computer & Electronic Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Paper Products; Transportation Equipment; Furniture & Related Products; Machinery; Primary Metals; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Chemical Products; Petroleum & Coal Products, and Plastics & Rubber Products.

It also noted no industry reported a decrease in June when compared to May. This means that many manufacturers are scrambling to recruit key technology employees including engineers, scientists and technical staff.

Further confirmation comes from ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee Chair Tim Fiore who said recently, “Demand is excellent. It is high across lots of industry sectors, with transportation and computers and electronics at the top of the expansion list. Backlog of orders softened slightly but still above 60, so it is not soft there. Demand was ahead of expectations and continues a run of torrid growth, with new orders topping 60 for the last 14 months. This is the longest run in modern times.” This has led to many key manufacturing related jobs being left unfilled due to demand far outstripping the supply of talented production workers.

Internet Of Things Soaring As Well

Another indicator of recruiting expansion is global IoT spending, which is predicted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.9% from 2017 to 2022, reaching a value of  US$367 billion, according to new research from technology research and advisory firm Ecosystm.

The findings, based on Ecosystm’s semiannual IoT Global Forecast, suggest the Asia Pacific region will become the global center for IoT solutions. The region will grow at a CAGR of 7.4% which will account for almost half (48%) of worldwide spend at US$177 billion by 2022.

In particular, China is expected to maintain its leading position as the largest country market. China will beat forecasts for the United States and Europe as it continues to commit spend to smart cities, autonomous vehicles, healthcare and manufacturing.

Indeed, Manufacturing is predicted to represent the largest vertical opportunity globally, accounting for US$63 billion by 2022.

Meanwhile, Health & Life Sciences (US$38 billion by 2022) and Retail, Distribution & Consumer Goods (US$42 billion by 2022) are forecast to have the fastest growth rates at CAGR 9.6% and 9.2% respectively.

Previously, end-point devices were considered low value elements of any forecast. However, the rise of IoT Edge IT requirements, coupled with Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Blockchain, AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality) capabilities is driving new, richer hardware configurations.

As a result, the study suggests that Hardware will grow at a CAGR of 9.2% to US$115 billion by 2022. On the flip side, contrary to prior industry predictions, the research showed that IoT Services will slow down to a CAGR 7.7% as companies are challenged to monetize IoT-only solutions without pulling in the other adjacent technologies.

Vernon Turner, Executive Analyst at Ecosystm, commented: “In our pursuit to develop an intelligent and connected world, there’s a need for large amounts of data to inform our environments so that they can react and respond to our requirements. IoT is what will feed transformation technologies, such as analytics, machine learning, and augmented and virtual reality, to help us achieve these goals.”

The forecast data has minimized double counting from existing information and communication technology (ICT) spend that could be reused for IoT projects (e.g. Cloud, Hardware, Network, Connectivity), and net new IoT spend. The forecast also excludes adjacent spending on ICT technology, such as analytics and machine learning, to isolate IoT spend.

This information further confirms that employers are struggling to uncover key talent. As a result and as I shared in my recent CBS Radio appearance, they have had to offer extraordinary perks to attract key workers!