Study: Nonprofit job market appears to be stabilizing

A national survey shows that many nonprofits plan to create new positions in 2010 and the nonprofit job market may be stabilizing. The 2010 national Nonprofit Employment Trends Survey, conducted jointly by Nonprofit HR Solutions and the Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research, found only 10 percent said they intend to eliminate additional positions in 2010, although more than half of respondents reported eliminating positions in 2009.

In addition, more organizations increased their staff size from 2009 to 2010 than in the previous year. About 34 percent indicated that they planned to create new positions; and of those organizations, 43 percent anticipated that they would create new full-time positions. Larger nonprofit organizations plan to create the greatest amount of new positions.

"While our report indicates that the nonprofit job market is stabilizing there are also signs that staff continued to be asked to do more with even less. We believe that this trend will continue to drive a higher than usual risk of employee turnover in the latter part of 2010," said Nonprofit HR Solutions' President and CEO Lisa Brown Morton. "Nonprofit leaders and human resources professionals should be put on notice that as the job market opens up; they will need to focus on retention of their current employees or risk losing staff through premature turnover."
 
This year's survey continues to show the ongoing struggle of nonprofits to maintain proper human resource management practices. The data indicate that, more often than not, two or more staff members without human resource management expertise are often tasked with these functions within most nonprofit organizations. Furthermore, 36 percent of small organizations – those with budgets of less than $1 million – said their staff size is simply too small to have a formal human resources function. 

More than 500 nonprofit executives and human resources professionals responded to an online survey that addressed staff size and projected growth issues; recruitment strategies and budgeting; staffing challenges; and staffing resource management. The full survey results, available at www.nonprofithr.com/survey, are available to non-survey participants for $49.95.