Registered nurses are the most sought-after employees in Connecticut, according to a survey by the state Department of Labor.
The fall 2014 data from a survey of 4,336 private sector Connecticut employers revealed a total of 40,736 vacancies being recruited. Of that number, 1,763 were registered nursing positions. Another 960 openings were for nursing assistants and nurse practitioners.
A similar survey in the fall of 2004 revealed 53,146 job vacancies in the state. At the time, RN positions had the third greatest number of vacancies, at 1,677, behind cashiers and retail sales openings.
Of the businesses that responded in the 2014 survey, 91 percent had between one and 49 workers.
DOL has no plans to issue the survey regularly, but Office of Research Director Andy Condon said he wants to seek funding for future surveys because there are not many other data sources that help job seekers and employers assess the state’s job market in a timely and accurate manner.
The federal government’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) provides national data.
The Conference Board — a nonprofit best known from its U.S. Consumer Confidence Index — offers state-level information in its Help Wanted Online Data Series, but DOL researcher said HWOL shows 177 percent more vacancies in Connecticut than the DOL’s own survey.
The difference is one of methodology and survey design. DOL surveys private employers for vacancies under active recruitment, while HWOL scrapes an Internet job board for all Connecticut job ads, including those in the public sector.
In addition, DOL constructs its sample of employers to reflect the mix of industries, company sizes and geographic distribution in the state.
