From last month, job openings have grown 4.5 percent while they have grown 9.9 percent year over year, according to the August 2012 Employment Outlook by job site Simply Hired.

In the past year, industrial employment in the Centennial State grew 1.2 percent as it gained 2,546 industrial jobs, according to the 2013 Colorado Manufacturers Directory, an industrial directory published annually by Manufacturers' News Inc.

Americans are not confident in the federal governments ability to address society's problems and would prefer major employers take on these roles, according to the 2012 Public Affairs Pulse survey by nonpartisan Public Affairs Council and Princeton Survey Research Associates International.

Although 35 percent of small-business owners say they are somewhat or significantly understaffed, 70 percent have no intentions of hiring in the near future, according to a new survey by TD Bank.

Fifty-three percent of employers say they do not use background checks during the hiring process, which is a jump from 40 percent in 2010 and 39 percent in 2004, according to new research by the Society for Human Resource Management.

Labor productivity is the top factor for becoming competitive in the manufacturing sector, according to a new global survey commissioned by Kronos Incorporated and conducted by IDC Manufacturing Insights.

More nonprofit employers are reporting growing confidence as 48 percent say they are hiring this year, representing a 6 percent increase from 2011, according to a survey by Idealist.org.

More than ever, employees are struggling to manage the pressures between work and life, and when that balance slips, productivity often falls with it.