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Greenhaven Partners Purchases Kennedy OnRec Conference Business

John Zappe on Nov. 4, 2011

The OnRec and Kennedy conferences, operated jointly as “The Recruiting Conference,” which just ended today in Chicago, have been acquired by an investment group led by two brothers who previously owned Kennedy Information.

Greenhaven Partners bought the annual conference and RecruitingTrends.com, the online successor to the venerable Kennedy Information print newsletter of the same name. The price was not disclosed.

The conference and the website were owned by Tarsus Group, a publicly held U.K.-based international business-to-business media and conference firm. Tarsus bought OnRec several years ago, just as it was beginning to hold its first North American conference. OnRec was founded in the United Kingdom, and has a strong presence there with its website, print magazine, and conferences. OnRec’s UK assets were not part of the sale.

110,000 Jobs In October, According to ADP Report

John Zappe on Nov. 3, 2011

More private sector jobs than expected were created in the U.S. last month. However, it was barely enough to ward off the doomsayers predicting a double-dip recession.

Payroll processor and HR services company ADP, and its partner, Macroeconomic Advisers, said 110,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in October. That was more than the 100,000 average expected by economists. The monthly report released yesterday also revised to 116,000 the number of new jobs added in September. Originally, ADP reported 91,000 jobs were created.

The report helped move stocks into positive territory today, after two days of global meltdown over the Greek decision to send its bailout plan to a referendum. It also offered more evidence that the U.S. may not be headed into another downturn, even if the recovery is sluggish.

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Slight Jobs Increase In September; Not Enough For Much to Change

John Zappe on Oct. 7, 2011

The U.S. Department of Labor issued one of its better jobs reports this morning, showing job growth in September was better than what economists expected, and revising upward its zero growth August numbers. The monthly employment report also showed improvement in hourly earnings large enough to offset the loss in August.

American non-farm payrolls grew by 103,000 jobs last month and by 57,000 jobs in August. The Labor Department also revised up its July jobs numbers from 85,000 to 127,000. Economists predicted September’s number would come in closer to 60,000.

Certainly a positive, the numbers weren’t enough to make a dent in the ranks of the unemployed, leaving the unemployment rate at 9.1 percent. It has hovered there since April.

A big part of the September increase in the jobs count was due to the return to work of some 45,000 Verizon employees who were on strike in August. Even so, the jobs report showed the private sector added 92,000 after accounting for the returning strikers.

Job growth was strongest in healthcare, which added 44,000 positions; construction grew by 26,000; and, retailers added 13,600. The professional and technical category increased by 48,000 jobs, fueled largely by increases in IT, management, accounting, and technical services. Staffing and related services added almost 24,000 jobs.

Government was the biggest loser as it has been for months, shedding 34,000 jobs in September, while manufacturing cut 13,000 positions.

The report showed little appetite in the private sector for aggressive hiring.

Jon Stewart Pokes Fun at LinkedIn’s Town Hall with the President

John Zappe on Sep. 29, 2011

The President came to California earlier this week to do a little fundraising and hold a jobs town hall meeting.

Neither of those were particularly noteworthy except that the townhaller was hosted by LinkedIn in Silicon Valley, with 80,000 people watching a live feed of the event.

During the hour-long meeting, Obama pitched his jobs bill, and fielded a variety of questions, most dealing with his plans to boost the economy, with others expressing concern about the future of Social Security and Medicare.

From a recruiting view, what was particularly interesting was the significance of the event for LinkedIn. If anyone had any lingering doubt that the business networking site was laser-focused on recruiting, the town hall meeting swept that away.

The White House hand-picked LinkedIn to host the jobs forum, at which the company’s CEO Jeff Weiner moderated. In a post-event interview, Weiner said, “We’re first and foremost very appreciative to the President and to the White House for recognizing the platform as a way to get the word out there.”

The San Francisco Chronicle‘s report on the event quoted a public relations consultant who called it “a coup of enormous value to the company and its brand.”

After Tuesday night’s bit by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, that value may be just a bit less enormous. I won’t spoil the clip for you, but Ill tell you it’s hysterical, particularly the part about how LinkedIn “helps” people find jobs. Enjoy.

The $447 Billion Jobs and Tax Cut Plan and Some Thoughts From Recruiters

John Zappe on Sep. 9, 2011

In broad strokes, last night President Obama outlined a $447 billion plan to bolster the economy and create new jobs.

Over half the cost comes from tax cuts for workers and small businesses. The balance is in spending on infrastructure repairs and improvements, especially to schools; at least 35,000 of them, the President said to a joint session of Congress. (The full text of his speech is here.)

He proposed a $4,000 tax credit for hiring long-term unemployed workers, and other credits for hiring veterans. He called for extending unemployment benefits and providing money to states to pay teachers, rather than lay them off.

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Editor's Corner

Live Life and Love What You Do

John Zappe on Sep. 5, 2011

Welcome to Labor Day and the last day of summer.

Yes, I know. Astronomically, summer won’t end for another 18 days. But, I’m talking symbolically, not scientifically. And in that context, the U.S. Labor Day marks a transition from summer white to fall brown. It’s when kids go back to school, and the pace of the office quickens as workers return from vacation.

Once a day of parades and political speeches praising American workers, which still occur here and there across the country, Labor Day is now a time to head for the beach or the park, fire up the barbecue, and kick back.

In the spirit of years past, however, I present you some inspirational words on life and work in the 21st century, from two of the most widely seen commencement addresses ever delivered.

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Job Growth for August: Goose Egg

John Zappe on Sep. 2, 2011

Job growth was a wash in August, with the U.S. economy adding 17,000 private, nonfarm sector jobs, but losing the same number of government jobs. That leaves the unemployment rate at 9.1 percent, according to the monthly job numbers released by the U.S. Labor Department this morning.

It was the weakest report since last September, when the nation lost 29,000 jobs. Few economists expected August to show much strength, but all but the most pessimistic expected some growth.

ADP Report: Private Sector Jobs Continued Slow Growth in August

John Zappe on Aug. 31, 2011

If you subscribe to the notion that any growth in jobs is good, then today’s report from ADP will be encouraging. The payroll processor said 91,000 new private sector jobs were created in August.

That’s still less than the 100,000 economists were expecting, and it’s about a third of what the U.S. needs each month to bring down the unemployment rate. The company, and Macroeconomic Advisers, its partner in the monthly report, also adjusted downward its July estimate to 109,000 from the original 114,000.

In ever-so-cautious language, the report says that the slow job growth in August is “at a pace below what would be consistent with a stable unemployment rate.” That means that should the trend continue, unemployment may rise.

Economists expect that when the official employment numbers are released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor, they’ll show the 9.1 percent unemployment rate unchanged. New jobs are expected to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 75,000 (Bloomberg News) to 80,000 (Dow Jones Newswires).

Staffing Firms Top Inc. List Of Fastest Growing in HR

John Zappe on Aug. 29, 2011

From the giant IPO-bound staffing firm Staffmark Holdings, to Indianapolis’ 14-person HR services firm FlashPoint, 156 self-described human resource companies made the annual Inc. list of the 5,000 fastest growing businesses in the U.S.

Inc. ranks the companies, all privately held, by growth rate; the faster revenue increased over three years, the higher the company ranks. By that measure, HR staffing and services firm Nextaff was first among the HR companies that volunteered to participate. (Participation requires companies to divulge annual revenue, employee counts and growth, etc. Only some companies are willing to publicize that kind of proprietary information.)

In the U.S., Tough Jobs Are Getting Even Tougher to Fill

John Zappe on Aug. 25, 2011

With 25 million Americans out of work or underemployed, you’d think it wouldn’t be too hard to find a teacher, an admin assistant, or an accountant. But you would be wrong, according to Manpower.

Those jobs are among the 10 toughest jobs to fill in the U.S., says Manpower’s annual Talent Shortage Survey, which also reports that 52 percent of the employers in the survey are having trouble filling jobs. Only in Japan and India do more companies report talent hard to find.

Globally, a third of all employers say they have difficulty filling jobs. Lack of experienced workers is the most frequently cited reason, globally, as well as in every region in the survey. In the Americas, lack of experience was followed by a lack of skills.

Particularly surprising was the the rise in U.S. companies reporting hiring difficulty. In the 2010 survey, only 14 percent of companies reported problems filling jobs. Now the percentage has nearly quadrupled.

If it seems unlikely the hiring situation could have worsened so much so fast, part of the disconnect may have to do with when the survey was conducted – months ago, long before the current round of gloomy economic reports started coming out.