Hiring in 2015? 5 Trends to Prepare for

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If you're looking for a new job, you should have better luck finding one this year, new research finds.

Overall, 36 percent of employers plan to increase their full-time, permanent head count in 2015, up from 24 percent last year, according to a new study from CareerBuilder. Additionally, just 9 percent of businesses expect to decrease staff levels, down from 13 percent in 2014.

Other hiring increases are also projected for 2015. Temporary employment is expected to pick up over the next 12 months, with 46 percent of employers planning to hire temporary or contract workers in 2015, up from 42 percent last year.

The research shows many of those temporary jobs could turn into permanent positions. Of the employers planning to hire temporary or contract workers in 2015, 56 percent plan to transition some of those workers into full-time, permanent roles.

With caution appearing to give way to confidence, CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson said the U.S. job market is turning a corner.

"Hiring in 2014 was broad-based, including encouraging activity among small businesses and hard-hit sectors like manufacturing and construction," Ferguson said in a statement. "The amount of companies planning to hire in 2015 is up 12 percentage points over last year, setting the stage for a more competitive environment for recruiters that may lend itself to some movement in wages."

Among employers planning to add full-time, permanent staff, the top five areas they are hiring for include sales, customer service, information technology production and administrative jobs. The study also found that businesses are aso planning to hire more employees in a variety of emerging fields, such as cloud, mobile or search technology, cybersecurity, managing and interpreting Big Data, alternative energy sources, anti-terrorism, and robotics.

With the New Year now in full swing, the CareerBuilder study revealed several hiring trends employers should be prepared for in 2015:

• Minimum wage increases: Moving forward, minimum wage workers are expected to earn bigger paychecks. Research found that 45 percent of employers are planning to raise their minimum wages in 2015. Specifically, 53 percent of those will increase it by at least $2 per hour, with 32 percent raising it by at least $3 an hour.
• Small business hiring: Small businesses are expecting to increase their head count in 2015 to meet increased market demands. Nearly 30 percent of businesses with fewer than 250 employees are planning to add full-time, permanent employees this year, up from 22 percent in 2014.
• Stricter education requirements: With many positions becoming more complex and data driven, more and more employers are adjusting their requirements for job openings. The study discovered that 28 percent of businesses are now hiring workers with master's degrees for positions that had been primarily held by those with four-year degrees. In addition, 37 percent are hiring workers with college degrees for jobs that had been primarily held by those with high school diplomas.
• Increase in part-time work: Nearly 25 percent of employers plan to hire part-time works over the next 12 months, up 6 percentage points over last year.
• No more cubicles: In an effort to create the most productive and collaborative work environment, 13 percent of employers are planning to implement an open-space floor plan that eliminates cubicles in 2015.

The study was based on surveys of 2,192 full-time hiring and human resource managers.

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