Small Gains in Hiring, Survey Shows

Nearly one-in-three direct marketing companies expect to add staff during the final quarter of 2009 (Q4 2009), up from 20% in the third quarter, according to a new employment survey.

The percentage of firms anticipating layoffs remains steady at 8%, according to Bernhart Associates Executive Search, LLC, which conducted the research. Furthermore, 45% of firms have instituted hiring freezes, up from 30% during the third quarter and that business-to-business firms are more upbeat about hiring, and anticipate fewer layoffs, during Q4 2009 than consumer companies, according to the Search firm.

Most of the new hiring is anticipated to take place on the services side with 41% of participating service providers reporting that they plan to add to staff in the last three months of 2009. Agencies were a close second at 39%, and client-side companies, at 18%, say they plan to make the fewest new hires, reports Bernhart.

Despite the continuing surplus of job seekers, nearly 60% of respondents say it was either “very difficult” or “somewhat difficult” to fill certain positions. “Companies are looking for the perfect candidate, so what we’re seeing here is an apparent inability to recruit applicants who meet each and every one of the required criteria needed to trigger a hire,” says Bernhart.

Posted by RecruitingTrends.com on October 19, 2009. Filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry