administrative positions that were lost
during the downturn. However, companies will continue to be cautious about
committing to permanent hires. There
also seems to be an unsettling feeling
that comes with an election year, possible changes in administration, and the
trouble in Europe. Overall, we are seeing
more companies utilizing the flexibility
of staffing services.
I think the biggest hurdle that the
industrial sector will continue to face in
2012 is the shortage of skilled labor.
“Pressure from clients regarding fees will continue, too.
Most companies continue to focus on a flat, high unemploy-
ment rate when they evaluate service costs and many think
there are few differentiators among staffing firms.”
—Nick Schichtle, Kelly Services
Professional: Slow But
Positive Uptick
Haley Crum, CSP, vice president,
staffing and client affairs
FrankCrum Staffing
Search and Placement:
Increase Competition for Talent
Nick Schichtle, vice president
Americas product group,
direct hire solutions
Kelly Services
Technical, IT, and Scientific:
More Engineering Graduates
Daniel Muhlfelder, president
and chief executive officer
L.J. Gonzer Associates
Although hiring managers are starting to feel more comfortable with the
economy, they are still slow to pull the
trigger when it comes to hiring permanent staff—and that will continue to
affect the demand for staffing services. I
think we will continue to see a slow but
positive trend in employment throughout 2012 and into the first part of
2013 before the economy really begins
picking up steam.
Specifically, within the legal staffing industry in the Tampa Bay area, I
consistently run into positions that are
difficult to fill. There continues to be
a shortage of paralegals for real estate
transactional, probate, and commercial/
corporate litigation. There do not seem
to be enough people out there looking
for these positions who have good, solid
experience in these fields.
There will continue to be increased
competition for opportunities and
talent as our industry seeks to capture
greater market share. Search and placement professionals will need to make
strategic choices as to which opportunities and companies are the best match
for their resources, talent, and time.
Emphasis should go to those with the
highest probability of success. It’s a
good challenge to have but a challenge
nonetheless.
Pressure from clients regarding
fees will continue, too. Most companies continue to focus on a flat, high
unemployment rate when they evaluate service costs and many think there
are few differentiators among staffing
firms. Thus we as an industry owe it to
our client partnerships, and ourselves,
to educate them as to the true and
broad landscape of the talent they seek
and the value of our strategic roles in
the entire process.
In recent years, the graduating engineering class contained few, if any, of
America’s best and brightest students.
Instead, these individuals pursued the
fields of business, finance, information
technology, pre-med, pre-law, etc. A
trend that I have seen over the past year,
and one that I anticipate will continue
in 2012, is a change in the makeup of
the college students graduating with
bachelor of science degrees.
We have witnessed a dramatic
increase in the number of these students
now studying the core engineering sciences, such as mechanical, electrical,
materials, etc. Hopefully, this increase
in engineering graduates will being to
address the skilled candidate shortage in
the technical sector. n
“The biggest hurdle that the industrial sector will
continue to face in 2012 is the shortage of skilled labor.”
Get Involved, Get a Leg Up
To represent all sectors of the
staffing industry, ASA created sector-specific communities, called membership sections, to promote peer
networking and collaboration. All ASA
members are eligible to enroll in
one or more sections for free. For
details, go to
americanstaffing.net. Or
contact Diana Mertz, senior manager,
sections, at dmertz@americanstaffing.
net or 703-253-1171.
