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5 Business Trends to Watch in 2018

The last jobs report of 2017 was earlier this month and if it's any indication of how 2018 will shake out, I am extremely optimistic. Below are five trends business leaders can expect to see in 2018.

1. Hiring will remain competitive. This is the best jobs market I've seen in 25 years. From the employee perspective, 2018 will be a great year to look for a job as companies are looking to invest more in their businesses and add headcount. From the employer's perspective, companies will need to move more quickly and be more aggressive with job offers as talent will be in high demand.

2017 saw a tightening of the labor market, and with the new tax law, there's not much reason to suspect that won't continue in 2018.

In Chicago, jobs within technical fields, like data science and developers will remain in-demand, but we'll also see companies fighting for top talent in nearly every field, including logistics, healthcare, technology, supply chain and sales.

2. Overall optimistic business climate. I believe Chicago companies will continue to be bullish in 2018. Business leaders should take advantage of the economy while they can, and I see it lasting a few more years as the current administration continues to adapt pro-business policies with the tax overhaul and changes at the National Labor Relations Board.

While Chicago taxes have not been the most business-friendly, cutting the corporate tax rate should help spur the local economy because businesses will use the extra money to invest back into their companies. Local business leaders are optimistic and likely to take risks, expand into new lines of business, create additional products or services and hire more people.

3. We won't see a dramatic wage increase. There are two reasons why wage growth won't substantially increase in 2018.

We have an aging workforce population with baby boomers retiring, which means companies are replacing those employees with recent graduates and less experienced talent at a lower cost.

The other factor is that we are in a global economy. Offshoring isn't just something available to large enterprises. Today, a 50-person company can offshore half their people in a range of roles (IT, accounting, etc.) and in far more countries than before.

4. Automation will offset the number of jobs available. Automation will continue to be a hot topic in 2018. Whether it's the kiosks at McDonald's or even at the airport check-in line, we could see more companies adopting automation and different ways of using it.

Some companies may start to augment their workforce with automation, meaning there are fewer jobs available for people, but the jobs that are available will pay more and be more specialized.

If companies can continue to use automation to save money without impacting the consumer, we should expect to see the amount of automation increase, as well as the willingness for companies to adopt automation.

5. Training and development will be a major focus for companies. As companies are fighting to attract top talent, they're also starting to invest more to improve employee engagement and retention. We've seen an increase in demand for training and development roles because companies recognize development as a crucial way to keep employees engaged and excited in their position. Additionally, there is a major shift in workforce demographics happening where we are seeing a big population of baby boomers retiring, while less experienced millennials and Gen Z take their place. This presents a need for companies to offset the lack of experience with training to make sure their workforce remains competitive.

• Tom Gimbel, founder and CEO of LaSalle Network, a staffing, recruiting and culture firm with offices in Oak Brook, Schaumburg and Chicago.

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