Local Employment Agencies See Surge in Demand for Full-time Employees
Hire Expectations
Employment agencies, by nature of the work they carry out, can take an accurate read of the economy, the confidence exhibited by area employers, and the trends developing within various sectors. Their pulse-taking exercises reveal, among other things, that the economy has been growing steadily since the end of the recession, and that this remains, by and large, a a job hunter’s market because businesses and start-ups are growing, and the demand for people with specialized skills is currently greater than the supply.
Tricia Canavan says working with an employment agency can be beneficial to job seekers because such firms know what employers want and can help them hone their skills.
A client recently told Tricia Canavan that he didn’t know how she found the right person to fill an executive position in his firm.
“I told him it’s our sole focus, so it’s easier for us than it is for many small and mid-sized companies,” said the president of United Personnel in Springfield.
But it’s still no small feat: The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.2% in June, for the third month in a row, and fewer people are searching for jobs.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult to find qualified candidates,” Canavan said. “The economy in Western Mass. is really strong, the job market is very tight, and we’re seeing increased demand for direct hires as well as temp-to-hire positions.”
Chart of Area Employment Agencies
Indeed, although the market was flooded with job hunters during the recession, the pendulum has certainly swung in the opposite direction, creating new challenges for employers — and the staffing agencies trying to serve them.
“The field is rife with opportunity for people with the right skills,” said Jackie Fallon, president of FIT Staffing Solutions LLC in Springfield and Enfield, which specializes in the field of information technology. Historically, about 25% of their job openings have been for temporary positions, and although there was a rise in temp jobs from 2008 to 2010, today only two of 25 openings she is trying to fill fall into that category.
“It’s a job-candidates’ market; there is a gap between supply and demand,” Fallon continued, adding that people with IT skills are not afraid to quit jobs without notice due to the high demand for their skills, and this factor, combined with the fact that many baby boomers are retiring, has increased the number of openings in the industry.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult to find qualified candidates,” Canavan said. “The economy in Western Mass. is really strong, the job market is very tight, and we’re seeing increased demand for direct hires as well as temp-to-hire positions.”
Ed Piekos notes the same trend in another industry. “Job openings continue to exceed hires for companies looking for financial professionals with well-rounded skill sets and strong soft skills,” said the vice president of Accountemps/Office Team in Springfield. The former specializes in accounting and finance professionals and their temporary jobs can last up to two years, while its sister division specializes in administrative support, where a business might need a receptionist for as little as a day.
Jackie Fallon says there is strong need for employees who are proficient in information technology, and this pattern will continue.
Andrea Hill-Cataldo, president of Johnson & Hill Staffing Services in West Springfield, said the need for people in accounting and finance has grown so much that earlier this year she hired Tiffany Appleton to serve as director of the new Finance and Accounting division her firm created.
“We’re very busy, and there is a growing need for this type of expertise in both temp and temp-to-hire positions, although most of the jobs we’re trying to fill are temp-to-hire,” she told BusinessWest.
Appleton moved from the Boston area to Western Mass. to take the job, and was surprised to find the majority of vacancies in this region are newly created jobs.
“We’re not seeing a need for backfills; all of the positions we have exist because small and mid-size companies are growing and want to add to their teams,” she noted. “They’re creating permanent jobs and are fully committed; they are not testing the waters with a temp.”
Although she noted that larger firms still do employ temps, which some people prefer to call “contractors” due to the negative connotations associated with the term “temporary,” the majority of them keep these hires for a year or longer, which allows them to continuously adjust to economic demands without affecting their permanent staff.
“Temporary hires are a workforce-management tool because they can be used for projects, special needs, or uncertain demands,” Appleton explained.
Overall, who, when, and why companies are hiring are subjects still dominated by a host of questions marks. But many employment issues are coming into focus, and for this issue, BusinessWest talked with many staffing professions about what they’re experiencing, and what that means in terms of the proverbial big picture.
Meeting Diverse Needs
Although the demand for full-time employees is growing, Canavan said many companies have significant seasonal fluctuations and do need temporary workers. Decades ago they hired people to fill these jobs, then laid them off, but today they depend on employment agencies to fill their need for workers whose job duties can range from customer service to processing orders to even project management.
It’s a system that works well because local employment agencies retain pools of qualified candidates they deploy on a frequent basis.
Andrea Hill-Cataldo, left, and Tiffany Appleton say that although large companies can offer rich benefit packages, small to mid-sized companies often can be more flexible or creative with benefits, which appeals to many job seekers.
The length of time they work depends on what they are hired for, but Fallon said her firm provides them with health insurance if they need it and keeps them on staff as W2 employees, because independent-contractor law in Massachusetts is the strictest in the country.
“And in our industry, many software developers want to go from job to job, which they can do in other states, but not in this one,” she explained.
Other agencies also see people who only want to work on a temporary basis. Some are retired, others are simply interested in challenging projects, a number want to gain skills and experience in a new field they are considering, and still others supplement their income by working part-time.
“They may have plans to move in a year, are re-entering the workforce, or are a recent college graduate who just wants to build a resume,” Canavan said.
She told BusinessWest there are also many part-time positions available, which is ideal for job applicants with another job or responsibilities that prevent them from working full time.
The options are unlimited, and the temp-to-hire route often works well for both employers and prospective employees, although people leaving a full-time job to take another usually want the security of knowing they have a job.
“Many companies want to try a candidate out to see if they fit well in their culture, but it’s also an excellent way for a person to see if they want to work for the employers,” Piekos explained, noting that a job placement needs to be a good fit; someone who has worked in corporate America may not be comfortable working in the construction industry.
Ed Piekos says companies seeking a highly skilled financial professional with strong soft skills must act quickly when they find one and be willing to negotiate.
That can be difficult to determine if the employer and their workplace constitute an unknown entity, which happens frequently when people search for a job on their own.
“It can be very frustrating for people to apply for jobs via the Internet. It’s like sending your resume into a black hole,” Canavan said, explaining that there is often no response and no feedback, which can be mitigated with an employment agency because they know their clients well.
In fact, Hill-Cataldo believes every job seeker should contact an employment agency.
“We can’t help everyone but we’re really honest about feedback and we offer specialized services. One interview with us can yield a lot of potential options, so it is a good investment of people’s time,” she explained.
Her agency also offers candidates they accept free assistance in polishing their resumes as well as their interviewing skills, and offers honed advice on how to turn a temp position into a permanent one.
Timing Issues
Star performers may be in demand, but Hill-Cataldo said their clients are not compromising their standards.
“They want the right person and are highly selective,” she noted, “But if they do find a top candidate, they act quickly because they know that quality people are being snatched up.”
Piekos has spent 18 years in the industry and been through three economic downturns and recoveries, and says the market right now for skilled employees is especially tight, so it is critical for employers to make offers quickly if they like a candidate.
“Companies need to be willing to negotiate quickly because a person may have a lot of offers on the table. They have to be ready to sell themselves and be willing to entertain things such as higher salaries and flexible scheduling or they could lose top performers,” he said. “We’re in a specialized economy, and skilled talent is becoming harder and harder to find, so candidates with the skill sets companies want often have multiple offers.
“Counter offers are common and hiring has become intensively competitive,” he went on, adding that the national unemployment rate is 1.8% for financial analysts, and 2.6% for bookkeepers, so there may be dozens of local companies trying to hire a senior accountant.
“It’s really a candidate’s market, and people with the right skill sets are so confident they are forcing employers to look at retention strategies and compensation plans,” Piekos continued, explaining that people are more willing to change jobs today than they were during the recession.
He believes the top items companies need to offer in order to acquire and retain top employees include a willingness to invest in their professional development; the ability to provide opportunities for career advancement; good salaries or hourly wages; and programs that reward or recognize employees for excellent work.
Many job seekers in this market, particularly millennials, are also concerned with the flexibility a job offers and want to be able to make their own work schedules.
“Candidates are definitely demanding and want to work for a company that offers them a good work/life balance. Many tell us the company’s mission is important and should allow them to take time off to volunteer, as well as allowing them to work from home as much as possible,” Fallon said, adding that employers who want to hire people competent in information technology need to keep pace with it themselves because college graduates won’t work for a company with old technology.
And since a good fit means understanding the needs of both the employer and the employee, Canavan says her firm interviews employers about what a typical work week is like, and talks to prospective employees about what they find acceptable.
There are other important factors, and one of them is that finding the right candidate for a job doesn’t necessarily mean they need all of the technical skills a company would like.
Job-placement specialists agree that skill sets are transferable, so soft skills are often more important than proficiency in a certain area and finding someone who fits well within an employer’s culture and has good soft skills can be the deciding factors in who they hire.
“Employers are more open to understanding this today than they were in the past,” Appleton said. “Many skill sets are transferable.”
Hill-Cataldo added four new employees to her own staff over the past 18 months, and followed that principle; her new placement coordinator was a legal assistant, and other hires came from the banking and retail industries.
“You can train someone on the technical aspects of the job, but you can’t train them to be passionate about their work,” she said.
Future Outlook
The need for qualified employees continues to grow, and more companies are taking measures to ensure that the people who already work for them are happy, which is critical to retention. They are also focusing on why their firm stands out so they can sell themselves to candidates they like.
Hill-Cataldo and other experts say this is especially important in the current competitive environment.
“It’s not your typical market, and we are so busy we can’t identify enough qualified candidates for the business we have,” she noted, adding that they are placing people in many high- level positions.
“It’s a good time to be looking for a job,” she said in conclusion. “There are lots and lots of opportunities.”
