July’s Jobs Report Makes Hiring Help More Important Than Ever

If there was ever a time to focus on your recruiting or job-hunting strategies for fall, it’s now! As hiring ramps up and the labor pool continues to shrink in this record-breaking economic expansion, talented people are increasingly harder to find.  And here is why: 

• July’s jobs report released August 2 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), showed steady growth as the economy added 164,000 new jobs, meaning hiring continues to be competitive. 
• The unemployment rate is unchanged at 3.7%, the lowest since 1969.  For policymakers, below 6.5% means full employment or the natural rate of turnover.   
•  Professional and technical services (+31,000), health care (+30,000), social assistance (+20,000), and financial services (+18,000), experienced the highest job gains.
• Wages continued their modest rise for employees on private nonfarm payrolls. Increases in June (.8) and July (.8) contributed to average hourly earnings of $27.98, a 12-month gain of 3.2%.  Larger companies outspend smaller businesses for the best talent. 

For employers:  A solid recruiting strategy for this economic climate 

There is no doubt about it, this is a historically challenging time to grow your workforce, especially if you are a small to medium-sized business.  Applicants have many options and gone are the days when candidates had to sell you on their stellar qualifications.  Today, hiring managers must appeal to the candidate and sell them on why they should work for you!  It’s a whole new ball game for employers, which is why Employment Services is one of the industries in Professional and Technical Services (BLS data) that continues to grow, up 5.5%. 

As fall hiring season ramps up and you realize you need help meeting your hiring goals, why not make Partnership Employment your strategic recruiting partner in finding the right talent for you? Our professionals will factor in the current labor situation and use the right tools and strategies to mine hard-to-find candidates in non-traditional ways.  If you have had no luck using recruiting platforms that randomly “push” jobs, consider the difference an experienced staffing partner can make:

• Saves time and money.  Small companies waste resources as managers screen piles of online resumes from unvetted applicants blindly “swiping right” to apply. 
• Partnership Employment’s talent experts use tools and resources that focus on people, not just ad responses. We organically mine an industry’s most qualified people, out of reach of most in-house hiring managers. We will also help you craft job offers designed to get to ‘yes!’
• Matching qualifications to candidate preferences and skillsets is vital to prevent costly turnover or ghosting.   Our partners refer only those people who are serious about your offer and can excel at the job.
• Temp-to-perm is a choice we offer that allows you to take time to evaluate whether a candidate is a right fit for an opening. But keep your hiring options open and consider Direct Hire with a guarantee and free replacement if they don’t work out during the probationary period.  With the low unemployment rate, a candidate who is currently employed might be hesitant to leave for a temp-to-perm role, and you would not want to lose out on someone you really want!

Don’t get left behind in the competition for talent if you are a small to medium-sized business lacking dedicated recruitment marketing or expertise.  There are great people out there, including those employed but looking for a better opportunity.  You just need help finding them.  We will work hard to match candidates with your ideal job placement and support you every step of the way.  Contact us today or Find Talent on our website. 

As a job seeker, what do these economic factors mean for you?

If you are a job seeker, good news!  The economy is still growing and adding jobs.  With the right competencies, the market is yours, so update your resume and social media profile on LinkedIn to match what employers need.  Pay special attention to naming those talents and attributes that make you a more valuable commodity in this market.   Check back later in the month for a Partnership Employment blog on how to portray your best self to the professional community, using LinkedIn’s profile tools. In the meantime, brush up on your interviewing and negotiation skills and do some research on the companies in the hottest hiring sectors.  Professional and technical services, health care, social assistance, and financial services experienced the highest job gains.

Need some help navigating the job market?  Give Partnership Employment’s staffing specialists a call today to help prepare and connect you with your dream job! And if you call them, you won’t waste time digging into research on wages, company culture, or figuring out how to negotiate the best offer.  They have the inside scoop on who is hiring, benefits, culture and more!