In a recession, staffing agencies can be the canary in the coal mine when it comes to signs of both the slide down and the climb out.
According to a statement released by recruiting firm Robert Half International, although economic conditions continue to tighten, new figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that attracting and hiring top talent for some positions remains challenging for employers.
The national unemployment rate, discounting farm employment, in September was 9.8 percent. Connecticut”™s rate closed August at 8.1 percent; New York”™s at 9 percent. Michigan tops the list at 15.2 percent, followed by Nevada at 13.2 percent.
Jason Witty, a metro manager for Robert Half who oversees offices in Stamford, Danbury and White Plains, N.Y., said companies are still hesitant to add to staff. However, Witty has noticed an uptake in Robert Half”™s temporary consulting positions, noting the economic indicators are “definitely looking positive.”
“We”™re seeing a demand for any position that helps a company run more efficiently and save money, such as billing clerks and financial analysts,” Witty said. “Companies want someone to come in and look at operations and make some changes and implement those.”
Witty said a common misconception “is that companies may take a look at the greater unemployment numbers and have an impression that it will be easy to find the right person for the job.”
Despite the unemployment statistics, “It is still difficult to find strong qualified accounting and financial professionals,” Witty said.
Allison Madison, president of White Plains-based Madison Approach Staffing, Inc., agreed.
“Realistically it is still hard to find the right person for the right job,” Madison said. “Now you might have 100 applicants, but there are still only four or five applicants that are appropriate for the job.”
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Madison said in recessions past, the temp industry was a very good indicator as to when things were improving “but I think this recession has been so deep that a lot of full-time, permanent employees have been reduced to part time, so the number of hours people are working in one week is really the indicator” of recovery.
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“The number of people working part time that want to be full time has doubled in the past 18 months,” Madison said. “That number coming down is the indication of recovery. If there is a blip it is a very small blip in terms of job orders.
“A lot of people are going to bring their current people back to full time before they even think of adding jobs,” she said. “I think you need between 2 and 2.5 percent GDP growth before you start adding jobs, and that is far in the future.
“We”™re still declining; we might just about be hitting the bottom, but job growth is far in the future. I do not see a significant uptake for quite some time.”
According to a survey conducted by the Danbury office of career transition and coaching firm OI Partners, as the economy slowly improves, 40 percent of employers are planning to re-hire some former workers they laid off as either full-time employees or as consultants and freelancers to add needed skills.
The survey said the top reason companies are rehiring, or planning to rehire, laid-off employees is that their skills are known to the employers.
“This attitude represents a major shift in employers”™ rehiring philosophy,” said Mary Ann Gontin, managing partner of OI Partners-Cunis & Gontin in Danbury. “In the past, companies would not rehire laid-off employees, but now they are more willing, and more employees may consider returning.”
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Madison said there aren”™t any industries that have emerged from the recession unscathed, saying, “It”™s just matter of degree.”
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She cited the food distribution industry as an example of an industry that hasn”™t been hit as hard as others because “no matter what, people still have to eat, whether they”™re eating caviar or peanut butter and jelly.”
Health care legislation that would enable employees to carry their health insurance from job to job would make employees less inclined to stay at a job solely because of the benefits.
“There are a lot of people who stay in jobs because they”™ve got great benefits,” Madison said. “In large measure (comprehensive health legislation) would force companies to be more competitive.”
Madison said although the staffing industry has “slowed down significantly” she thinks the future is bright.
“After we recover from this I think the staffing industry will benefit in the long run,” Madison said. “I think companies recognize that in large measure people were very bloated; they overspent and one of the ways you can really improve your bottom line is to use your staff more efficiently.”
In terms of the state of employment in the country, there will be long-term job growth, “but I think the world as we know it is definitely changed,” Madison said.
“We”™re never going to go back to the way things were,” Madison said. “There is a whole paradigm shift in the way businesses do business and the way employees work.”
