MATAWAN, NJ--(Marketwired - March 15, 2017) - To grasp the current state of the U.S. workforce, iCIMS, Inc., a leading provider of cloud-based talent acquisition solutions, released its quarterly U.S. Hiring Trends report today, which compares the composition of job hires in 2016 across a group of industries. The data explores who is hiring, what skills and occupations are most in demand and the prevalence of full-time versus other kinds of jobs. Based on iCIMS' proprietary system data, the report covers hiring activity in manufacturing, healthcare, professional & business services and retail trade.

"The 2016 presidential election gave fresh urgency to the question of jobs for the American middle class," said Josh Wright, chief economist at iCIMS, a former staff economist at the Federal Reserve. "One of the challenges is that the source of jobs is changing. The base of U.S. employment has been shifting under the influence of several forces -- primarily technology, trade, and demographics. Today, manufacturing requires more than assembly workers in factories as automation and better technology has led to the need for more specialized and technical job skills, often requiring higher education."

Key findings from the report include:

Increased Use of Technology in Manufacturing Drives Higher Demand for Computer- and Math-Focused Occupations

• The Manufacturing industry has been hiring a broader range of occupations types compared to retail trade and healthcare & social assistance.

• Occupations focused on computers and math constituted almost 10% of positions in manufacturing and professional & business services, but only 1% or less for healthcare and retail.

Part-time & Contingent Job Openings are Prevalent in the Retail & Healthcare Sectors

• The prevalence of part-time work was highest in the retail trade industry: 43%, compared to at most 18% among the others.

• The healthcare industry hired by far the largest proportion of contingent positions: 18%, compared to at most 4% among the others likely due to the fact certain employee's hours in this field can vary with the demand for services.

White-Collar Positions Receive the Highest Volume of Applicants

• White-collar positions received substantially more applicants (up to 35 per open position), on average than the blue-collar and so-called pink-collar (service-oriented) positions (up to 21 per open position).

• Managerial positions in human resources and marketing received some of the largest numbers of applicants per open position, 75 and 57 respectively.

"Understanding how the composition of skills needed is shifting is crucial for understanding the changing face of opportunity in America," Wright explained. "Put another way, the puzzle of job growth is not just a question of which industries will be growing by how much but also of which occupation types within those industries."