Things That Make You Go HMMM! (Nonprofit Hiring)

We included a headline from the general media and a reference last week to the new Nonprofit Employment Report from the IU Center on Philanthropy that prompted a number of inquiries about how nonprofits have added jobs in Indiana through the recession while businesses have cut jobs. Questions along the lines of "Is this true?", "How can this be true?", "We have been cutting for years, who is adding?", etc.

The answer isn't hidden but the headline could be considered misleading for most of us who see hospitals and universities in a separate classification from "regular nonprofits". A clearer headline would have been "Growth of Employment at Hospitals and Universities Surpasses Business Hiring" or something like that.

It is an interesting report and worth a few minutes of your time to explore. Below are a few excerpts that clarify that headline:

· The nonprofit sector accounts for nearly 1 out of every 11 paid workers in 2009, up from 1 in 12 in 2005.
· Over half (54 percent) of all nonprofit employees worked in healthcare, another 13 percent worked in education services, 11 percent in membership associations, 11 percent in social assistance, and 3 percent in arts, entertainment and recreation.
· Nonprofit employment growth was concentrated in the health and education industries (up 9.6 and 4.8 percent respectively), while nonprofit employment decreased for arts, entertainment and recreation, social assistance, and membership associations
· The overall increase in nonprofit payroll was driven mainly by education and health care; nonprofit payroll decreased in social assistance and arts, entertainment and recreation.
· Nonprofit average annual wages grew the most in education (6.7 percent), membership organizations (5.1 percent) and health (3.2 percent), held steady in social assistance, and actually declined in arts, entertainment and recreation (-3.1 percent).


See a summary of the study.