If you are looking for a job, a recent Dice Holdings survey brings good news. It found that nearly 60 percent of employers plan to hire next year. More than four in 10, however, admitted finding qualified candidates would be a struggle.

A ''Now Hiring'' sign
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That is because advances in information technology have changed the structure of the economy, according to James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.

The nation has seen its two strongest consecutive increases in gross domestic product over the last two quarters, which proves the national economy is gaining momentum. Yet while companies are on a positive trajectory for hiring, information technology improvements have shrunk the amount of routine, standardized processing jobs.

"Remember the term(s) office clerk and bookkeeper? I think the last bookkeeper in New Jersey passed away in 2007," Hughes said, "so basically, a lot of those routine jobs are disappearing."

Many of these jobs have been replaced by creative, new idea, new business model-type positions, designed to find new ways to be more efficient.

"That is quite a different skill set that employers want," Hughes said. "That's the kind of creative, high technology, digital-type jobs."

While many opportunities are high-end jobs which require people who have college degrees and are very fluent in the digital world, implementing that world takes a technological workforce beneath it.

"These people don't necessarily need a college degree, but they do need a lot of experience in the technology world," Hughes said.

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