Predictions for 2011

“The focus for 2011 will be on the jobs that are pivotal to driving growth.”

-Ravin Jesuthasan

On page 14 of January 3rd’s issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, Ravin Jesuthasan of Towers Watson points out that certain job categories will see increased demand…

…as companies accelerate growth through product development..

How many great ideas have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for capital to free up? With the US economy now projected to grow at around 3.5% for 2011, are companies finally looking to stoke growth through business development and innovation initiatives? I’m pretty sure executive teams will need to see another quarters results of sustained demands before committing fully but there are clear signs that sentiment is turning positive. In the same Bloomberg article, Business Roundtable’s Q4 CEO poll shows that chief executives are the most positive they’ve been in five years. The research and poll from Business Roundtable can be found here. If you’re heading up an innovation team and have had to go dark over the past couple of years then now’s the time to start queuing up projects. It may be premature to push initiatives at this early stage but your executive teams may be coming to you in a couple of months looking to shovel some cash your way.