Welcome to the next decade!
If you’re anything at all like most people, you’ve taken at least a few moments to think about your resolutions for the new year. Maybe you’re going to finally use that gym membership you’ve been paying $79.95 a month for (for the past three years), or perhaps you’ve resolved to stop [...]
Here in Chicago, where unemployment in June topped 11%, the market for full-time professional positions is very, very tight. Large employers here are very hesitant to increase permanent headcount, but are finding that their lean workforces aren’t keeping up with demand.
The solution? Hiring contractors.
Last week, I met with a large consumer products company to discuss their workforce plan for the next 12 months. In that meeting, their stated workforce strategy was to keep full-time hiring on hold, and to pursue hiring contractors for all roles, with the aim to convert them to full time employees within the next 6 months. That’s a significant change from their previous strategy, and, since most other large firms with whom I speak seem to be following a similar path, the implications for the workforce are several.
First, contract-based work “moves faster.” Instead of having to wait for cumbersome internal HR processes to produce a hireable employee, contract firms blitz the company with people who can literally begin work tomorrow. When the demand shift to contract-based workers, hiring cycles accelerate, which bodes well for reducing unemployment rolls.
Second, most contract assignments carry with them zero benefits like health insurance, vacation time, or a 401(k) plan. While getting back to work is good, the shift to a contract-based workforce doesn’t much help our national problems of too-little retirement savings and high levels of uninsured workers.
Finally, any increase in demand for contractors will drive employment in the recruitment industry. Contractors aren’t hired by HR representatives, they’re hired by professional recruiters who work for staffing companies. Along with this recently observed uptick in contractor demand, I’m also seeing requests for full-time recruiters climbing steadily at the large staffing shops.
Staffing industry pros know that an increase in demand for contractors means that full-time employment will pick up in the next 4-6 months. When that happens, we’ll see the unemployment numbers (a lagging indicator) begin to decline by mid-2010.
Is your company hiring contractors in lieu of full time employees? Sound off in the comments section.
Talk to anyone in the professional search business lately, and you’ll be speaking with someone whose outlook on their profession ranks just above “middle manager at Chrysler.” In other words, it ain’t lookin’ good.
In the contingent search industry, times are downright desperate. While this segment of the professional search marketplace has been under pressure for years, 2009 will [...]
Craigslist Syndrome (def) n. A time-sucking, emotionally draining, focus-killing condition that impacts small businesses; directly caused by posting job ads on Craigslist and subsequently receiving over 500 resumes within 24 hours, 10 of which are actually qualified for the job posted; also known as CLS.
Does your company suffer from Craigslist Syndrome? To self-diagnose this business-crippling [...]
In Part 1 of this series on hiring salespeople, we explored the various reasons why hiring salespeople is so difficult. Here, we’ll discuss some tips and tricks for properly reviewing the resume of a potential sales hire.
All managers have made a hiring mistake at one time or another. My experience in interviewing sales talent on [...]
When it comes to recruiting, nearly every business manager I work with has two things in common. One, they understand the impact that great recruiting can have on their organization. Two, they all think that actually doing the recruiting work themselves is a royal pain in the ass.
The solution that many entrepreneurs and managers arrive [...]
My friends in the HR profession are always telling me that recruiting is the toughest part of their job. HR executives catch heat from their executive team for a good many things, but recruiting is typically the lightning rod issue that generates the most visible pain. Why?
I like to think about it this way - what [...]
Recruiting is a ton of work, and entrepreneurs and managers have scant time to focus on it. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, because anyone who’s ever tried to fill a position without help knows the mind-numbing frustration that is posting jobs on Craigslist and Monster (or in the newspaper).
Compounding the issue is the fact that finding [...]
The topic of recruiting could easily fill its own book, and there are no shortage of information (books, blogs) out there for you to sink your teeth into. Here, I’ll give a cursory outline of the recruiting process so that we’re all grounded in the same terminology, but I highly encourage you to explore the [...]