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« Back to the February 2007 Explorer newsletter
What’s Hot & What’s Not
Winter 2007 Edition
Compiled by Mark C. Healy
Recent reports and happenings that affect your world. Rocket-Hire keeps an ear to the ground to learn what’s changing.
HOT
Remember all those predictions about increased hiring demand and labor shortages in 2006? They appeared to be spot on, if a little conservative. Recent government reports revealed better-than-expected job growth and low unemployment last year, and positively steady indicators entering the New Year. A look into some industries and regions underscores this optimism: In Minnesota, health care, social services and hospitality should lead the way in 2007. Regions as different as Cleveland, Ohio and the Silicon Valley are much more optimistic after a strong 2006. In the retail sector, Home Depot is adding over 15,000 skilled professional jobs at its largest metropolitan locations. But how long will it last? Keep an eye on increasing rates of retirement, consumer confidence, and inflation for important clues to level of competition in this year’s ever-changing market for talent.
HOT or NOT?
A recent column in BusinessWeek uniquely highlights how important it is to be straight and fair with job applicants while maintaining strong hiring standards. As writer Liz Ryan points out, a new hire that isn’t given much attention, must annoyingly track down HR staff to get basic information, and knows that he or she is a last-resort hire is destined for a less-than-successful stint at their new company. The staff at Rocket-Hire have all observed the “warm body” strategy in action (remember the dotcom hiring frenzy?), at firms both traditional and high tech, and have seen it ultimately damage performance, morale, and retention in nearly every case. Maintaining adequate parameters for who you hire, formalizing your onboarding process, and offering a realistic view of potential career paths for new employees are positive strategies that will never change, regardless of the new technology or your own industry trends.
How HOT will it get?
It seems that an applicant for a retail position should be prepared for any and every variety of recruiting and hiring experience. Taleo, a worldwide provider of applicant tracking and assessment systems, has released a report on the employee acquisition tactics of the top 100 American retailers. The study found that 37% of retailers offer in-store applications on a kiosk or computer, with fewer than half of the top firms even accepting a paper application. Moreover, about 70% of retail chains offer the opportunity to apply on their corporate websites, but 22% accept paper applications only. With applicant pools widely varying by location and high rates of turnover in many sectors, retailers large and small have much to gain by standardizing their recruiting and hiring practices. Fortunately, more and more are getting on board.
NOT
Are federal internships unfairly jeopardizing the careers of both the interns and standard applicants for competitive positions? Oddly enough, a recent lawsuit suggests just that. According to this report, the Federal Career Intern Program has become popular for a number of reasons: the agencies may hire interns whenever they like, do not have to advertise the job openings, and may spend up to two years (three in some cases) evaluating interns before permanently hiring them. But the National Treasury Employees Union has asserted that the program circumvents longtime attempts at fair hiring. Specifically, the NTEU alleges that the intern program has deprived current employees of promotions and career advancement in general. On the other side, interns are unfairly subjected to a two or three year probationary period. As usual, it is hard to discern if this is the full story, and if variations in the program across Federal agencies result in vastly different outcomes in specific jobs. Stay tuned to see if this one makes it to the courthouse.
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