Staffing Industry Rebounds

The Staffing View
On business, the workplace and employee relations
November, 2011


Micro Tech's Featured Job Openings for November
Electro Mechanical Assembly Technician, Waltham, MA
Salary: $18 - $22 per hour, temp-to-hire
Responsibilities include testing and troubleshooting high power solid state electronic systems; as well as reading, interpreting and following electrical power schematics and blueprints Other responsibilities include handling and component installation of SMT devices on printed circuit boards; layout, wiring and power cabling of various sub-assemblies, control panels and systems as per drawings

Telesales Representatives, Portland, ME
Salary: $1050 per hour plus commission
A Portland area call center that focuses on outbound sales and marketing campaigns is looking to bring on experienced telesales representatives Ideal candidates will have at least one prior year of relevant experience in a call center environment, ideally with both inbound and outbound calls These positions are seasonal to start but could transition into longer term positions for the highest performing individuals!

2nd Shift Maintenance Supervisor , Raleigh, NC
Salary: $30 per hour
Qualified candidates must be capable or running diagnostics on CNC Machines, run PLC's and have a solid understanding of pneumatics and hydraulics Minimum of eight years of maintenance and supervisor experience required

Web Developer, Waltham, MA
Salary: $35 per hour
Qualified candidates should be experienced web developers with strong JavaScript and some mobile app development experience Experience with HTML, CSS and Adobe Creative Suite would be a huge plus

Innovation in Maine Gets a Boost
Perhaps the images of black bears, moose or lobsters come to mind when you think of Maine But how about innovation? A New York foundation evidently sees promise in "The Pine Tree State" and has invested $3 million to spur job development by helping the state's nascent entrepreneurial community start more innovative companies

Blackstone Charitable Foundation, part of the international asset management and financial services company Blackstone Group, has included Maine in a five-year, $50 million, multistate plan called Blackstone Accelerates Growth The project in Maine will be administered by the Maine Technology Institute, a Brunswick-based nonprofit that helps early-state companies The University of Maine and the Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development will also be involved

Traditional industries such as lumber and fishing are still critical to Maine's economy But the state is working diligently to grow its technology sector In 2010 the Maine Innovation Economy Advisory Board published the 2010 Science and Technology Action Plan, in which it said its vision was to "create an environment where science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship stimulate Maine's economy"

In fact Maine has been trying to bolster its tech sector since the mid-1990s Voters approved a $20 million bond for research and development in 1998 Two years later the legislature established the Maine Technology Institute (MTI), the Maine Economic Improvement Fund (MEIF), the Advanced Technology Development Centers, and the Maine Patent Program Continued general fund investments of between $20 and $25 million per year, as well as additional bond investments in 2003, 2005 and 2008 have continued to fund growth in Maine's research capacity Considering Maine has historically been among the bottom states in research and development spending, the investment demonstrated a new commitment to modernize the economy

But the report also found that while the state has done a good job since the mid-1990s building its research capacity at state universities and nonprofit laboratories, little has happened in spurring innovation and entrepreneurship Not enough of the research has been commercialized and has had little impact on the economy

That's why an investment by an outside entity, the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, to stimulate innovation in Maine has caused some excitement in the state among those trying to build a culture of entrepreneurship

The $3 million will be used to offer expanded executive education courses to 250 Maine companies and more than 400 students will receive funding to take innovation and entrepreneurship courses At first the courses will be offered at the University of Maine Orono campus where the Foster Center for Student Innovation is located By September of 2012, they'll be taught at all seven of the university campuses An internship program for about 150 students from the university and three other Maine colleges - Colby, Bowdoin and Bates - will be run with participating companies

Staffing Firms Bounce Back
How bad was the Great Recession of 2007-2009? Ordinarily employment in the staffing industry peaks during the fourth quarter of each year But in the fourth quarter of 2008 the staffing sector contracted by 250,000 workers, a sign of the severe difficulties occurring throughout the US at that time It was the most severe decline in the recorded history of the staffing industry

The good news is that during the two years after the Great Recession ended in June of 2009, the country's staffing firms created more new jobs than any other industry, according to a new report by the American Staffing Association The ASA cites figures from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, which state the temporary help services industry added nearly half a million new workers and accounted for 91percent of total nonfarm job growth from June 2009 through June 2011

"American Staffing 2011: Leading US Job Growth," the ASA's annual report highlighting recent trends in the staffing industry, points out that the industry lost more than one-third of its workforce during the recession and only about half of those jobs have been recovered in the following two years But there's still much to be encouraged about
• During 2010 US staffing firms hired 97 million employees, 41percent more than in 2009
• Temporary and contract staffing sales in 2010 increased by 213 percent, while search and placement sales grew by 228 percent
• Eight out of 10 temporary and contract employees work full time, about the same proportion as in the overall US work force
When economic cycles turn downward and businesses suffer a loss of revenues, they typically shed temporary and contract workers first Conversely, when the economy begins to improve companies hire temporary workers first to meet demand while also retaining their payroll flexibility The staffing industry's atypical contraction in the fourth quarter of 2008 demonstrates how severe the Great Recession really was
More jobs were lost in the 2007-2009 downturn than had been created in all of the previous expansion More than 87 million Americans lost their positions, compared with the 82 million jobs created after the 2001 recession Nonfarm employment peaked in December 2007 at 138 million jobs and touched bottom at 129 million in February of 2010

Microtech Staffing Group has experienced strong growth during the recovery in temporary and temp-to-perm positions and we expect our job growth to continue

Top 7 Reasons to Hire a Vet
With Veterans Day on November 11, we thought it a good time to remind employers why hiring a veteran can be a good idea, courtesy of federal Department of Labor's VETS web site
Their ability to learn new skills and concepts While in the military, service members undergo rigorous training programs to become experts in a wide-range of skills and concepts that can easily be transferred to a civilian work environment
Their strong leadership qualities The military trains service members to lead by example as well as through direction, delegation, motivation and inspiration in some of the toughest situations imaginable Service members are schooled in the academic theory of leadership and have used practical ways to manage behaviors for results
They work strongly in teams or independently Military training teaches service members to work as a team by instilling a sense of responsibility to one's colleagues The size and scope of military operations necessitates that they understand how groups of all sizes relate to each other and support the overarching objective Military duties also build individuals who are able to perform independently at a very high level
Their strong interpersonal skills Service members have learned to work with individuals regardless of race, gender, religion, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, economic status, and geographic origins as well as mental, physical and attitudinal capabilities
Their ability to work in a fast-paced environment Service members have developed the capacity and time-management skills needed to know how to accomplish tasks correctly and on time, in spite of limited resources and immense pressure
Their respect for procedures and accountability Service members know how policies and procedures enable an organization to be successful and they easily understand their place within an organizational framework They understand the responsibility that comes with being responsible for the actions of subordinates
Their experience with technology and globalization Today's military uses cutting-edge technology to dominate the enemy in the battlefield From communications technology to the security of computer networks and hardware, they stay aware of emerging technologies in the public and private sector