Todd Raphael
on Feb. 1, 2010
Pharma’s the hottest industry worldwide, according to a Feb. 1 survey from Antal, in partnership with SearchPath International.
In order, these sectors have the the highest levels of recruitment at the professional and managerial level 1) Pharmaceuticals; 2) Manufacturing; 3) Engineering; 4) IT software; and 5) Banking. (More info.)
Education and shipbuilding.
India, UK, Nigeria, and Russia. (More info.)
Spain and Hungary.
Todd Raphael
on Nov. 24, 2009
Good news for laid-off employees comes today from Right Management, which finds that only 10% of employers say they don’t rehire past employees. It also found that 18% of laid-off workers are rehired by their former employer. Employers cited the following as their top reason for the rehires:
37% – Familiarity with the job
33% – Understanding of the organization’s culture
20% – Minimizing the likelihood of a bad hire
(10% – Do not hire back former employees)
Right Management, now owned by Manpower, surveyed 1,161 employers online between July 18 and September 17, 2009.
Todd Raphael
on Sep. 9, 2009
Good to see some not-too-bad news: Korn/Ferry is up pretty sharply (8%) as the market opens.
The company says:
-Things are stabilizing but the future economy and labor markets are up in the air
-Executive searches opened are down 30% (1,352 vs. 1,920)
-Average fee per engagement is down 16%
More details here.
Todd Raphael
on Aug. 5, 2009
Some short notes from a conversation I just had with Robert Damon, president, North America, for Korn/Ferry:
“Now’s the time to [be] bold,†Damon says. “Great companies now are looking at ways to capitalize on the economic turmoil to look at breakout strategies and acquire human capital talent and bring in the best and the brightest for the future. Being proactive about the talent management function in this turmoil is what really good companies are thinking about.â€
Todd Raphael
on Jul. 8, 2009
How much money, above what an employee’s currently making, does it take to get them to switch jobs?
It depends, of course. (And of course, it’s not all about money.)
But as part of its 2009 Employee Job Satisfaction report, SHRM (the big association of HR people) asked employees what percentage salary increase would motivate them to leave their jobs. They could choose from a scale of 1 = Very Unlikely to 4 = Very Likely.
Here are the percentages of people who said they’d be “very likely” to leave if the given salary increase was dangled in front of them.
30% salary increase: 58% said very likely to leave
20% salary increase: 20% said very likely to leave
10% salary increase: 11% said very likely to leave
5% salary increase: 8% said very likely to leave
Todd Raphael
on Apr. 16, 2009
Even in the uber-cyclical recruiting business, where search firms like Heidrick & Struggles are taking their names literally, there’s no time like the present, apparently.
That is the case at least for Jeff Perkins. He had been managing the corporate recruiting team at Invista, a subsidiary of Koch. His team went from 13 people to five. This February, he was let go.
So, Perkins decided to open up his own shop. Truthfully, he’d started getting it together last October, but, he says, he was “forced to do it a little sooner than I wanted to.”
He’s going after professional jobs such as HR, accounting, and engineering. Back office, mainly. He’s also trying to make some money from candidates.
“I wasn’t actually as nervous as I thought I’d be,” Perkins says. “Maybe it’s part of my makeup, but it’s a pretty good time to start a business. I’m a believer the economy will eventually turn around.”
He’s thinking this is a better time to start a business than in a big economic expansion. That’s because in a fast-growing economy, “companies don’t have time to talk to you. They’re pretty set in their ways.” Now, he says, “It’s a great time to build relationships.”
He’s not doing a lot of recruiting right now. Instead, it’s outplacement work, which he hopes will lead to recruiting work with the same companies once they start hiring again. “I look at it in the long-term sense rather than just as quick money.”
Todd Raphael
on Aug. 6, 2008
A Minnesota recruiting company is slimming down and is reportedly more productive. Its PR person Erin Wombacher tells me she lost 10 pounds in three months and her energy level is up.
Todd Raphael
on Jul. 22, 2008
Some highlights (mainly lowlights, actually) from Kelly Services’ CEO Carl Camden today; thanks to Seeking Alpha for help. Kelly’s earnings were lower than expected.
“The second quarter was a rough one. Analyst’s reports and media have well documented the economic challenges faced by our industry and the global economy. Overall demand for labor in the U.S., already weak, has worsened; and demand for temporary staffing is declining at an even faster rate.”
“The current unemployment situation seems to be more of a reflection of employers’ reluctance to add new employees, rather than the result of aggressive layoffs.”
“Although up, just the slight bit, the unemployment rate for college graduates remains very low at 2.3%.”
“With the exception of France, which exhibited 4% growth, the rest of Western Europe and Scandinavia was down roughly 3%. On the other hand in Eastern Europe, we continue to see strong sales performances with revenue growth over 33%, largely driven by our strong performance in Russia.”
“Although manufacturing, financial services, and various other industries have experienced job losses, there continues to be opportunities in other sectors like education, government, energy, and engineering.”
“We are pushing ahead with geographic expansion to generate additional revenue and earnings growth. For example, Kelly recently announced an agreement to purchase 13 branch offices and 15 onsite locations from Randstad Holding, a transaction that establishes Kelly’s presence in Portugal.”
“While it’s been a long downturn, it has been a shallower downturn without the sharp inflexion down that crushed lot of firms the last time. So we haven’t seen the abundance of the business closings or distressed sales in this cycle that we’ve seen in the past.”
“We are not experiencing anywhere near the operating earnings declines that we did in the last cycle … while the unemployment rate has moved up to 5.5%, that still is significantly lower unemployment rate than it was on the last downturn …”
Todd Raphael
on Jul. 21, 2008
Get these eight ducks in a row — or miss out on a placement.
Todd Raphael
on Jul. 21, 2008
We’re starting to think about speakers for next year’s Fordyce Forum (even though June 10-12, 2009 seems awfully futuristic). Let me know if you are interested in proposing a presentation, or if you know of someone who’d be great. We’re headed back to Las Vegas — hotel to be determined. The emphasis is still on being a big biller. We’d like to have two tracks this time, one for owners, and one for recruiters, so indicate which track you see your presentation best fitting in. It’s particularly great to find big-billers who are less known but have great stories/tips to share. Email me at todd@ere.net.
For four decades running, The Fordyce Letter has brought street-smart knowledge and tell-it-like-it-is opinions to recruiters in the know.
Get The Fordyce Letter in print and you'll get:
Welcome to The Fordyce Letter: