When it comes to hiring, compensation always serves as a deciding factor. Can you attract qualified candidates for open positions, and pay them what it takes to sign them on? As a small business owner, it’s important to keep track of hiring and compensation trends so you can stay at the forefront of successful employment. In this series, we’ll reveal vital information that you’ll need to know as you continue to hire new employees and expand your business. Job candidates are more apt to ask for higher starting salaries this year, and companies may have to up the ante to attract them. That's according to an annual study on employment and compensation trends by Robert Half International (RHI) and CareerBuilder.com titled The Employment Dynamics and Growth Expectations (EDGE) Report. Fifty-seven percent of hiring managers polled for the project said it was difficult to find qualified candidates 12 months ago; 91 percent said recruiting is equally or more challenging today. More than half (52 percent) of hiring managers who are having trouble recruiting cited a shortage of qualified professionals. As the competition for skilled labor has become more pronounced, 58 percent of workers polled said they are more likely to negotiate a better compensation package today than 12 months ago - double the number from last year's poll. The survey includes responses from more than 1,000 hiring managers and 900 workers, and was conducted from July 19 to August 7 by Harris Interactive. It was designed to compare and contrast the perspectives of hiring managers and workers to determine which group has more negotiating power in the current job market. Since The EDGE Report was introduced in 2005, the number of employers expressing concern over the ability to fill open positions has climbed steadily. In 2005, 42 percent of hiring managers reported it was difficult to recruit qualified employees 12 months prior and 32 percent felt it was even more challenging at the present time. In 2006, 55 percent of hiring managers reported it was difficult to recruit qualified staff 12 months prior while 34 percent stated that it was even more challenging at the present time. In 2007, 57 percent of hiring managers reported it was difficult to recruit qualified employees 12 months prior and 33 percent felt it is even more challenging today. Sixty-four percent of current respondents believe recruiting will be just as challenging 12 months from now while 28 percent believe it will be even more challenging. In the second part of this series, we’ll take a closer look at the struggle employees face to fill open positions in their company. | 
