Tag Archives: SHRM

Report: December Hiring on the Upswing

Posted on December 8, 2009 | Leave a comment

Manufacturing and service-sector companies plan to hire in December, a turnaround from their plans in the same month a year ago, according to the leading indicators of national employment report released by the Society for Human Resource Management.

A survey for the report found that 28.2% of manufacturing companies plan to hire in December while 17.5% plan to cut staff for a net increase of 10.7%. This compares to a net decrease of 10.9% in December 2008.

In the service sector, a net 18.8% plan to add staff in December compared with a net decrease of 9.1% in December 2008.

The SHRM report is based on a survey of private-sector human resource professionals at more than 500 manufacturing and more than 500 service-sector companies.

To see the full SHRM report click here.

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Posted in Workforce Statistics, Workforce Trends

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Poll: A Majority Hire based on ‘Chemistry’

Posted on November 24, 2009 | 1 Comment

A majority of human resources professionals (54%) make their final decision to hire a person based on “chemistry,” according to a poll released Tuesday by the Society for Human Resource Management.

It found that 15% of human resources professionals said chemistry accounts for 75% of the final decision to hire, and 39% said chemistry amounts to 50% of the final decision to hire.

The survey also found that 30% of human resources professionals made a decision not to hire within 15 minutes of meeting the job candidate. And 28% made a decision not to hire within five minutes.

Respondents to the survey included 498 randomly selected members of the Society for Human Resource Management who are recruiting professionals.

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Posted in Interviewing, Workforce Trends

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Survey: 20% Say Firms Will Hire in 4th Quarter

Posted on October 26, 2009 | Leave a comment

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Are we inching back to normal?

About 20% of human resources professionals said their companies plan to hire in the fourth quarter, according to the labor market outlook quarterly survey by the Society for Human Resource Management.

Another 14% planned to cut jobs, and 59% said their firms would maintain staff levels.

“HR managers are optimistic that the economy is inching towards a recovery but are crafting cautious hiring plans with more aggressive recruitment not expected until 2010,” said Jennifer Schramm, manager of workplace trends and forecasting at SHRM.

Fewer companies planned to cut jobs in the fourth quarter than in the third-quarter survey when 30% said they would make cuts. However, more human resource professionals, 24%, said they planned to increase staff in the third quarter.

The survey included responses from 402 human resource professionals.

To see the complete study click here.

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Posted in Workforce Trends

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Employee Skills Gap is Widening

Posted on July 31, 2009 | Leave a comment

training

Since the global recession has forced many employers to cut costs—including labor costs—one area may need a resurgence of investment: training.

U.S. employers continue to struggle with finding new hires who have not just the basic skills, but also higher-level critical thinking and creativity skills, according to a new report from The Conference Board. Since the education system is not supplying young workers with these skills, companies may have to devote more of their own resources to bringing workers up to their required skill levels.

Some options include providing internships and working more closely with community colleges. The goal should be to prepare workers before they go out into the job market.

“It is a losing strategy for employers to try to fill the workforce readiness gap on the job. They need to be involved much sooner to prepare new employees to succeed,” according to Donna Klein of Corporate Voices for Working Families, which worked with The Conference Board on the report.

Click here to read the full report.

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Posted in Corporate Learning

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Hiring Freeze – Job Freeze

Posted on December 9, 2008 | Leave a comment

shrm

The budget knife is out, and most human resources professionals are bracing for the worst. A poll released by the Society for Human Resource Management in Alexandria, Virginia, found that 70 percent of HR pros expect their organizations to enact cost-cutting measures if the U.S. economy continues its descent. A reported 55 percent say hiring freezes also are likely. The survey also found that companies are examining various options pertaining to employee investments and retirement planning, including changes to 401(k)s and similar programs. “In addition to organization-wide budget cuts and hiring freezes, HR professionals said cutting bonuses (50 percent), freezing wage increases (45 percent) and conducting layoffs (39 percent) are “likely” actions that might be taken should economic conditions worsen,” according to a statement released by SHRM.

The study also said: “On the flip side, respondents said restructuring executive compensation and/or severance packages (82 percent), and outsourcing some business functions (79 percent) were only ‘somewhat’ or ‘not as likely’ to be taken under the same circumstances.” The poll compiled the responses of 450 people.

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Posted in Workforce Statistics

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Homeland Security Attacks Iowa SHRM

Posted on July 28, 2008 | Leave a comment
Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Stewart Baker said, "I suppose corporate hiring is easier if you can hire illegal workers."
Photo: John Shinkle

It’s one thing to have officials question a lobbying group’s motives behind closed doors. But, as the Society for Human Resource Management found out, it’s quite another to be slammed publicly on a government blog.

The author of the controversial July 11 post was Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Stewart Baker, who took issue with the group’s push to replace the E-Verify system, the on-line program that allows employers to check the legal immigration status of its hires.

“SHRM lobbies for the HR execs who do corporate hiring. It also opposes E-Verify,” Baker wrote on the department’s blog. “I suppose corporate hiring is easier if you can hire illegal workers, so perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised that SHRM wants to kill a program that makes it harder to hire illegal workers.” The society of HR professionals hasn’t taken the jab lightly. On Friday, the group sent a letter to its 240,000 members, decrying the “uninformed and insulting” characterization. By Tuesday morning, about 4,500 members had contacted lawmakers to complain about Baker’s inaccurate and sarcastic conclusions, said the society’s lobbyist, Mike Aitken. To read the full article click here.

SHRM fight’s back – click here to read the SHRM President’s response to the blog post by Mr. Baker.

What are your thoughts or experience on this? Is E-Verify all it is cracked up to be or does SHRM have a real argument.

Full Disclosure: I am a member of SHRM’s Central Iowa Chapter and believe that they do have the best interest of business’s that they represent in mind with their concerns.

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Posted in Workforce News

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