The Recruiters Roundtable

House Moves to Extend Unemployment Benefits

2009-09-21T21:41:00.000-07:00

By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer Jim Abrams, Associated Press Writer – Mon Sep 21, 3:32 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Despite predictions the Great Recession is running out of steam, the House is taking up emergency legislation this week to help the millions of Americans who see no immediate end to their economic miseries.

A bill offered by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., and expected to pass easily would provide 13 weeks of extended unemployment benefits for more than 300,000 jobless people who live in states with unemployment rates of at least 8.5 percent and who are scheduled to run out of benefits by the end of September.

The 13-week extension would supplement the 26 weeks of benefits most states offer and the federally funded extensions of up to 53 weeks that Congress approved in legislation last year and in the stimulus bill enacted last February.

People from North Carolina to California "have been calling my office to tell me they still cannot find work a year or more after becoming unemployed, and they need some additional help to keep their heads above water," McDermott said.

Critics of unemployment insurance argue that it can be a disincentive to looking for work, and that extending benefits at a time the economy is showing signs of recovery could be counterproductive.

But this recession has been particularly pernicious to the job market, others say.
Some 5 million people, about one-third of those on the unemployment list, have been without a job for six months or more, a record since data started being recorded in 1948, according to the research and advocacy group National Employment Law Project.
"It smashes any other figure we have ever seen. It is an unthinkable number," said Andrew Stettner, NELP's deputy director. He said there are currently about six jobless people for every job opening, so it's unlikely people are purposefully living off unemployment insurance while waiting for something better to come along.
The current state unemployment check is about $300 a week, supplemented by $25 included in the stimulus act.

That doesn't go very far when a loaf of bread can cost $2.79 and a gallon of milk $2.72, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said at a hearing last week on the unemployment insurance issue.

"We need to keep our unemployed neighbors from falling into poverty. We need to figure out how best to make our safety net work," Baucus said.

The jobless rate currently stands at 9.7 percent and is likely to hover above 10 percent for much of 2010. Gary Burtless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said at the Finance Committee hearing that, according to Labor Department figures, 51 percent of unemployment insurance claimants exhausted their regular benefits in July, the highest rate ever.

"It is likely the exhaustion rate will continue to increase in coming months" as the unemployment rate continues to rise, he said.

Stettner predicted that Congress will likely have to continue extending jobless benefits through 2011.

McDermott in July introduced a more ambitious bill that would have extended through 2010 the compensation programs included in the stimulus act. Those benefits are now scheduled to expire at the end of this year.

But with a price tag of up to $70 billion, that bill would have been far more difficult to pass. McDermott instead decided to offer the scaled-down 13-week extension to meet the urgent needs of those seeing their benefits disappear this year.

McDermott said his bill would not add to the deficit because it would extend for a year a federal unemployment tax of $14 per employee per year that employers have been paying for more than 30 years. It would also require better reporting on newly hired employees to reduce unemployment insurance overpayments.

Three-fourths of the 400,000 workers projected to exhaust their benefits this month live in high unemployment states that would qualify for the additional 13 weeks of benefits under his bill, McDermott said.

They include Alabama, Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

Other states could qualify for more benefits if their unemployment rates are approaching the 8.5 percent threshold.

Welcome Katherine Knapp to The Recruiters Roundtable Team!!!

2009-03-29T04:36:00.000-07:00

March 29, 2009

The Recruiters Roundtable is proud to announce the addition of Ms. Katherine Knapp to the Management and Subject Matter Expert teams. Please take a moment to join me in welcoming Katherine to the table! Ms. Knapp’s addition to the Management team at The Recruiters Roundtable in addition to being the resident SME in all facets of purchasing, procurement, supply chain, buying, planning, sourcing, etc., will allow her to contribute her expertise and knowledge through a myriad of vehicles to help all of our members better understand the procurement, supply chain and procurement processes, industry standards and best practices.

Ms. Knapp is a senior-level professional who possess over 10 years experience in purchasing, procurement, supply chain, project management, management, etc., and has worked in a variety of industry verticals and their respective business units. A native of Pittsburgh, PA and a graduate of Emory University, Ms. Knapp recently relocated back to her hometown and is active within the community in a variety of capacities supporting her various interests. Please take a moment to join me in welcoming Katherine into our community here at The Recruiters Roundtable and please feel free to contact Katherine directly with any comments, questions, etc.

You can email Katherine directly at: KnappKatherine@yahoo.com and connect with her on LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/katherineknapp.

Welcome Aboard Katherine!!!

~Keith

Keith D. Wolsko
Managing Editor & Founder - The Recruiters Roundtable
Sr. Human Capital & Talent Acquisition Specialist -
Recruiting/Sourcing/RPO/Systems/Process Consultant
Keith@therecruitersroundtable.com
http://www.therecruitersroundtable.com
http://www.linkedin/in/keithwolsko

#links

2009-03-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

#links

Are you passing up Staffing business?

2009-03-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

It’s no secret - the economy is currently in the tank. Businesses are laying off workers, bankruptcy is at an all-time high, the housing market is terrible, and companies are cutting expenses to survive. To say the least, the forecast for success, for the most part, is bleak for the foreseeable future. However, there are some areas that are seeing some slight growth, or growth potential, to include the healthcare and information technology staffing sectors. My question is, if you are staffing/recruiting in those areas, especially on a contract basis, are you turning down business because of lack of funding to support that business?
There may be a few reasons a staffing company may turn down business. One may be a lack of manpower to recruit employees for client openings. With many staffing companies trimming expenses, there may have been a need to lay off recruiters, which hinders the ability of the company to recruit as many employees to work on assignment. The second reason is that clients of staffing firms are taking longer to pay their vendor invoices. Companies are trying to hold on to cash reserves for as long as possible, and their vendors are starting to see extended payment terms for their services. A third reason may be that the creditworthiness of a potential client (i.e. the client’s ability to pay for services) may have diminished with the weakened economy.
With all of these variables in place, staffing companies may be taking a wait and see approach before expanding their business. Again, my question is, why wait to expand your business? Staffing companies should be taking advantage of every opportunity to grow the revenues of the company. If the ability to fund the business and process the payroll and payroll taxes were taken out of the equation, wouldn’t you seek to grow your business? There is a simple solution to taking on the new business, and it involves partnering with a funding source that understands your business.
Staffing owners are in the ultimate Catch-22 business - the more contract placements you make, the greater the need for sufficient working capital funding to carry payroll and other costs of doing business. Your employees expect to be paid weekly, or at least bi-weekly, yet it takes from 30 - 60+ days for your clients to pay for your services. Without proper funding to cover those costs, it can be difficult to grow your business. Also, you must have resources available to process the payroll, file and pay 941 payroll taxes, pay your employee, create and send out invoices, and send out year-end W2s and/or 1099s. Partnering with a funding source that can not only cover working captial costs, fund weekly profits, process payroll, payroll taxes, pay employees, file 941s, and send out W2s can be a life saver for staffing companies.
So what’s it going to cost? Most funding companies charge anywhere from 2% - 5%, depending on the services they are providing. The real question should be, what’s the opportunity cost of passing up additional business? Patnering with a funding company will allow you to cover the costs of doing business, assist in credit profiling of your potential clients, monitor your outstanding receivables, assist with collection efforts, and taking some of the administrative load off your plate will be your best option for growth.
If you would like to discuss your situation, you may email Dale Busbee, Sterling Resource Funding Corp, at dbusbee@sterlingresourcefunding.com or call (985) 641-8817.

10 Steps to Starting Up a Successful Temporary Staffing Company

2009-03-12T08:05:00.000-07:00

So you’ve decided to start up a temporary/contract staffing company, and you would like to know what’s involved in ensuring success in your new venture. To follow are 10 tips for making your new venture a success.
1. Define Your Market - Most entrepreneurs that start a staffing company come from within the industry. Some have worked for other agencies as a branch or regional manager, recruiter, or sales professional. Others have owned a staffing company, sold their company, then returned to open a new company. Whatever the background, defining a specialty staffing area can be the key to your success. Whether it’s concentrating on accounting, finance, admin/clerical, light industrial, healthcare, IT, or professional areas, you must define your area of focus. Depending on your crew, it may be necessary to concentrate on one area first, then branch out to others as you bring in industry experts from other areas.
2. Define Your Strengths - Everyone has strengths. Whether it’s in sales/business development, marketing, operations, financial acumen, or other areas will depend on your role within the organization. You will want to take over roles matching your strengths, and leave the other areas to professionals best suited to handle the other functions in your business. For instance, if your specialty is business development, you want to be the one calling to get job orders and secure contracts. You may want to bring in an operations professional to handle day-to-days tasks of running the agency.
3. Define Your Weaknesses - This step goes hand in hand with #2, but can also include specialty areas as well. If you have a background in healthcare, you will probably want to attack that marketplace as an expert in the industry, versus taking on IT or Accounting clients. Stick with your strengths, and bring in experts to handle other specialty areas.
4. Get The Basics - The first step in opening a business is to incorporate in states that you are going to conduct business. I would recommend either going online to your Secretary of State’s website, or visiting a local office to incorporate. Whether it’s as a SubChapter C, S, or LLC, you want to make sure that you distance your personal business from your staffing business. Consult with your attorney on setting up your business as a corporation, but putting a layer of protection from your personal and business assets is paramount when starting your business. You may want to also consult your Accountant when setting up your business to inquire about setting your business up on a cash vs. accrual basis for accounting purposes. Also, if you are going to have candidates interviewing for positions, you are going to want to consider having a corporate office location, whether as an executive suite, in a strip center, or in a separate building. Appearance is everything, and you don’t want to be meeting candidates at your local Starbucks for interviews. Also, be prepared to contact your phone company for a business line, and consider leasing or buying office equipment (copy/fax machine, phone system, etc). Office supplies are also necessary to run your business.
5. Determine Insurance Needs - This is the fun stuff, as they say. Nobody likes to buy insurance, but unfortunately, it’s a requirement for running a temporary/contract staffing business. Minimum insurance requirements will be for General Liability and Workers Comp. You may also want to consider having E&O and Professional Liability Insurance coverages. Find an insurance carrier that understands the staffing industry! A list can be found under insurance providers for the American Staffing Association (www.americanstaffing.net). If you are a start-up, you may have to contact your state’s Insurance Fund to get your first Workers Comp policy. However, once you have an established business, you may be able to gain insurance from a private insurance carrier. Again, make sure you are dealing with a broker or agent that understands what your company and the staffing industry.
6. Determine Your Funding Needs - Without proper funding, your business is going nowhere. Understanding that you have to lay out money to incorporate your business, buy insurance, get an office location, purchase or lease equipment, purchase office supplies will get you to the point of opening your business. At that point, now you have to hire employees. They will be on your payroll and covered by your insurance. Now you need to place them on assignment and they expect to be paid weekly or bi-weekly. Once you bill for your services, it may take 30, 60, up to 90 days to get paid from your clients. You will have to carry that payroll for up to 90 days, unless you have a funder who will carry that payroll for you. You may have put up your savings to get the business off the ground, but if it takes off, you may run into a cash crunch fairly quickly. There are several options to cover your payrolling and working capital costs, but again you will need to find a funding source that understands your business and is able to fund your business based on the volume of business you generate. Banks these days are being very cautious about who they lend funds to, so I would recommend your finding a receivables financing company that specializes in the staffing industry. If you don’t enjoy the administrative functions of running a business, or would like to outsource your back office (billing, payroll, payroll tax) functions, some funders exclusive to staffing will not only finance your business, but take on the back office piece.
7. Market Your Services - Once your business is set up, now is the time to start marketing your services to potential clients. Some folks already have target companies in mind, based on prior business relationships. Warm calls and referral business is always preferred to cold calls, but when you are getting started, you have to utilize any methods to pick up new business. Joining social networks such as Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, or others is a great place to start. Use your existing contacts to leverage other contacts. Let everyone you know that you have a started a new business venture that you are excited about and want to share. Network, Network, Network.
8. Find Candidates / Employees - In days past, the only way to find candidates was to pick up the phone and call into companies, or run a newspaper ad. There’s something to be said about those methods, but with the advent of the internet, social networks, job boards, etc., finding candidates has changed. Posting jobs to Monster, Careerbuilder, Dice, The Ladders, is great, if you can afford to subscribe to those services. Networking through Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks can be as effective, and much less expensive. Joining professional organizations such as The Amercian Staffing Association, local staffing organizations, or attending trade shows / staffing conferences can bring credibility to your organization, and provide excellent networking opportunities.
9. Become an Expert - People like to deal with professionals they feel comfortable with, view as an expert in their field, and provide value to the relationship. Take the time to learn about the industry, your specialty recruitment areas, and the clients you plan to call on. View each sales call as a job interview. Be prepared to discuss your prospective client’s company as if you planned on working there. Know their business, study their history, become familiar with their culture. If you are viewed as an expert in the industry, especially in your field, then it becomes a matter of finding out if your prospective client can afford your bill rate and if you can add value to their organization.
10. Repeat the Process - If you take the proper steps to set up your company correctly, then it’s a matter of building out your company. You may want to start small, then take on new business slowly. Or, if the opportunity presents itself, you may be able to capture unique opportunities to grow your business quickly. Remember to define your market, know your strengths, find an suitable funding source, and network, network, network.
If you would like to discuss your situation, please feel free to give Dale Busbee, Business Development, Sterling Resource Funding Corp a call at (985) 641-8817 or via email dbusbee@sterlingresourcefunding.com

Staffing Firms Gear Up for Finance Mop-up

2009-02-04T10:55:00.000-08:00

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The expected clean-up of the U.S. financial sector and an anticipated economic stimulus package has staffing firms preparing to find jobs for everyone from blue-collar workers to highly trained compliance officers.While most headlines in the past few months have been about companies and industries eliminating jobs and closing factories, once these federal government programs get rolling, demand within some sectors is expected to spike."Cleaning up the bad loans and reregulating the financial sector is going to be huge," said Brendan Courtney, vice president of Mergis Group, a unit of staffing company Spherion Corp (NYSE:SFN - News), which has set up a special group to handle hiring related to the U.S. financial sector bailout. "None of this is going to get done without armies of people."The U.S. Congress is debating a nearly $900 billion economic stimulus package, including tens of billions of dollars for infrastructure projects to create jobs.U.S. President Barack Obama has also vowed to overhaul the nation's financial regulatory system, which may include stricter rules for hedge funds, credit rating agencies and mortgage brokers, to prevent a repeat of the credit crisis that has plunged the world's largest economy into deep recession.And U.S. policymakers are considering whether to place toxic or virtually worthless assets left in the wake of the financial crisis into a bank cleanup program that some analysts estimate could cost as much as $4 trillion.Although the exact form of these programs has yet to be decided, staffing companies say they are preparing to fill a raft of different jobs with accountants, engineers, lawyers, bankers, mortgage specialists and compliance officers."At the moment, we're looking at somewhat of a moving target with many moving parts," said Ed Haidenthaller, a finance operations director at Jefferson Wells, a unit of staffing firm Manpower Inc (NYSE:MAN - News). "Whatever the final shape of these programs, we need to hit the ground running.""We have to be ready now because it will be too late once everything is approved to start thinking ahead," he added.Some analysts say a financial sector cleanup will benefit staffing firms like Robert Half International (NYSE:RHI - News) and Resources Connection Inc (NasdaqGS:RECN - News) unit Resources Global Professionals. Others, including TrueBlue Inc (NYSE:TBI - News), a provider of temporary blue-collar workers, could do well from infrastructure projects as part of the stimulus package.But not enough to offset the impact of the recession."The main bread-and-butter business of the staffing companies has been hit really hard," said Vishnu Lekraj, a stock analyst at Morningstar. "This will not be a game changer, but it will slow their loss of revenue."'BAD BANK' GOOD FOR BUSINESSDemand for temporary workers has fallen in 23 of the past 24 months, according to U.S. government data.But Paul McDonald, an executive director at Robert Half, said the firm had seen an "uptick across the board over the past 60 days" from financial sector customers -- for example, for risk assessment and management posts -- due to bailout money the U.S. government has already pumped into the system.As to what the future holds, staffing company executives are relying on past examples of government cleanups.Staffing executives cite the experience of the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) -- created in 1989 to liquidate bad assets from the collapse of savings-and-loan associations."We anticipate the same scenario this time around," Mergis' Courtney said. "We don't know what shoes are left to drop at the banks, but many people -- accountants, lawyers and bankers -- will be needed to work through those problem loans."When discussing Obama's promise to reform financial regulations and tighten oversight of the banking sector, staffing company officials cite the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Passed in 2002 following financial scandals including Enron, this tightened accounting controls for publicly traded companies.It also meant hiring accountants and compliance officers."We aim to draw on that (Sarbanes-Oxley) experience," said Bob Kovalsky, a senior vice president covering the U.S. northeast at Adecco SA (VTX:ADEN.VX - News).Jefferson Wells' Haidenthaller said since the major banks have cut thousands of jobs there was a decent talent pool to draw from, but a shortage of regulatory compliance managers."If you have 1,000 people laid off from a bank, maybe 5 percent of them will be compliance-oriented," he said. "Individuals with that expertise will be in high demand.""I will give (staffing firms) credit for advance planning," said Jeff Silber, an analyst BMO Capital Markets. "They would be a lot worse off without it, but revenue is still going to decline for everybody."Tobey Sommer, an analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey said he doubted the financial sector cleanup would provide staffing companies with many opportunities."I don't see (a cleanup) being a big boon for staffing companies," he said. "Instead, I think it will be good business for financial consulting firms or big accounting firms."

Out-of-Work Stigma Fades in Today's Economy

2009-01-27T09:35:00.000-08:00

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In good economic times, many employers place a higher premium on the passive candidate over the active job seeker. There is a perception that the “hard-to-get” candidate who already has a job is more desirable, more valuable or more competent. But in these times, says MRINetwork™, one of the world’s largest search and recruitment organizations, when literally millions of people are losing their jobs, employers should not ignore any proactive, experienced team players with solid business experience.

“The current job market, difficult though it may be in many ways, still offers opportunities to employers and candidates alike,” says Tony McKinnon, president of MRINetwork. “Companies can find qualified people to fill critical positions that cannot go unfilled, and candidates who have learned to survive in a difficult environment have much to offer these companies.”
The employment landscape has changed, says McKinnon. “Companies need to change their thinking about candidates. Because of layoffs and companies closing doors, a lot of candidates -- good candidates – are available to fill open positions quickly.”

McKinnon also notes that already employed passive candidates often cost more to attract, to recruit, and to retain. “If companies want to find good candidates less expensively and more quickly,” he says, “they should open their doors to active candidates. They will be grateful for the opportunity and anxious to show they can do the work.”

Although the loss of a job inevitably causes anxiety and uncertainty, it also can force us to grow, McKinnon believes. “If your job disappears, it's an excellent chance to learn something new, discover untapped skills and meet new people,” he says. “If you keep a positive attitude, you can use your energy toward furthering your career rather than reflecting on what you may have lost."

Outlook for the Staffing & HRO Sectors

2009-01-21T06:46:00.000-08:00

Staffing

• Most staffing segment trends are correlated with GDP growth (healthcare and outplacement are the exceptions). According to Staffing Industry Analysts, the staffing industry is expected to contract 10.3% in 2009 (the temporary help component, which excludes PEO, outplacement and search, is expected to decline 8.2%).
• Healthcare staffing has mixed expectations after growing 3.5% in 2008. According to Staffing Industry Analysts, it should grow by only 1.5% in 2009. Locum tenens and allied healthcare professionals are particularly hot subsectors with 14% and 4.5% growth, respectively, projected in 2009.
• IT staffing is expected to contract 8%, after a flat 2007. Certain verticals, such as healthcare IT and government services, should continue to fare much better.
• Professional staffing outpaced commercial staffing in 2008, with growth of 0.8% versus a contraction of 7.8%. According to Staffing Industry Analysts, professional staffing has a forecasted contraction rate of 5.1% in 2009. Technical and engineering staffing is anticipated to contract 4.0% in 2009. Clerical and industrial staffing are expected to contract 13.5% and 12%, respectively.
• The biggest question for the next recovery to answer is will it be "jobless", as the 2001-2003 recession’s recovery experienced.
• All businesses with a federal government focus should fare better than average, given the planned stimulus spending package.
• Buyers who are actively looking at deals are focused more than ever on fundamentals. Those companies with long term project based businesses, those serving core functions within regulated industries, or those whose value proposition is clearly cost savings to the client, will be in highest demand.
• Distressed sales are usually driven by top line contraction, margin compression, credit market constraints, and/or a reduction in alternative exit options. We expect to see more companies with credit constraints looking for very fast exits, some via Chapter 11, as we witnessed in the 2001-2003 recession.
• Many buyers are actively considering acquisitions of those that need to sell – but sellers should be prepared for lower valuations and creative financing to bridge risk.
• For those considering an exit when the rebound arrives, be prepared to move quickly as some segments will witness very rapid growth.

HRO

• According to HRO Today, contract activity as well as contract values declined significantly in 2008. Everest Research Institute reports that the multi-process market was estimated to have reached $2.9 billion during the year, with 28-32 deals versus 47 in 2007. A turnaround could take place in the new year since some aspects of outsourcing have an inverse relationship with economic growth. Also, with many organizations looking to shed fixed costs, HRO may have a better 2009.
• The market in 2009 will be shaped by trends other than the global economy, although it will still weigh heavily on decision makers who have the final say on adopting HRO in their organizations. However, with the industry still maturing, a shift toward equilibrium is likely to occur because for the past several years there has been a constraint on supplier capacity due to providers’ unwillingness to take on new deals. And with all eyes on cost savings, the way employers plan to outsource will mark a return to the early days of the HRO market.
• In previous years, many organizations were attracted to the transformational aspects of HRO, and how it could help them align services with their business goals, enable HR leaders to focus on strategic functions rather than tactical ones, and improve service quality.
• The shift in focus occurred quickly in 2008, and instead of long, drawn-out comprehensive HRO, many looked to point solutions that could be implemented in a short period and offer quick returns on investments.
• Technology will be the differentiator. Access to technology without big overhead has always been HRO’s great value. Whether it’s an applicant tracking system, a learning management platform, or even an enterprise resource planning system, appropriately selected hardware and software help reduce administrative burdens, improve performance, and minimize costs. Technology investments also help generate critical data, which enables organizations to be able to react quickly to changing market conditions.
• Staffing Industry Analysts predicts that the overall PEO industry will grow by only 0.5% in 2009 after 2% growth in 2008. Larger PEO’s should fare much better due to their economies of scale and insurance purchasing power.
• Look for HRO providers to offer recruitment and other related HR assistance to the Federal government and its contractors with the Obama administration’s plans to invest in U.S. infrastructure.

Start-Up Costs for Staffing Agencies

2009-01-15T08:41:00.000-08:00

So you have laid the groundwork for starting up a temporary staffing or consulting company based on your prior knowledge of the industry. Perhaps you have been a regional manager or recruitment officer of a company, have grown the business for someone else, and have decided to move out on your own to start to begin your adventure in the staffing world. So what are the fixed and variable costs associated with starting your business?

There are certain costs that are a given when running a staffing company. The main costs associated with the business relate to payroll/employee costs and insurance. Of course, as with any other business, you will incur variable costs including a corporate lease, capital/office equipment, telephone service, advertising costs, employee benefits (if you choose to make them available), and other general overhead costs.

Regarding payroll expenses: the business represents the ultimate Catch 22 situation; the more business you produce (i.e. the more job orders you fill for your clients), the more weekly payrolling costs that are involved in running the company. This can create an immediate cash flow crunch because your temp employees/consultants generally want to be paid on a weekly basis, yet your client invoices may not get paid for 30 - 60+ days. Your total payroll burden/costs can vary, which makes it necessary to price your services accordingly. Depending on the type of employees you are sending out, your gross markup should range from 40 - 65% in order to have enough profits to pay your employees, pay your overhead, and have enough left over for yourself.

Then comes the insurance burden. If you plan to have W2 employees, you must have Worker's Compensation insurance, along with general liability, and most likely professional insurance coverages. Again, depending on the type of employees you will be sending out on assignment, your costs will vary. Admin/Clerical and IT costs for Workers Comp will be much less expensive than the cost for Light Industrial or Industrial employees. Also, depending on the state in which you do business, the costs will vary.

It is important to note that the staffing business can be a very lucrative business, but should not be taken lightly. Unless you have prior staffing industry experience, it can be a tough business to break into. You have to constantly work to secure new clients, and have a backlog of candidates to place with your clients. Many clients will require that you have sufficient insurance in place before you can send your employees to work at their site. It is important to find an insurance company that specializes in the staffing industry to obtain the proper insurances, along with the right amount of coverages for your particular business.

As long as you have the proper background in the staffing industry, along with the desire to work very diligently to make the business successful, your business should prosper. Knowing the costs involved in running the business up front will ensure a successful venture into the staffing world.

If you would like to discuss your situation, please contact Dale Busbee, Business Development Executive, Sterling Resource Funding Corp @ (985) 641-8817 dbusbee@sterlingresourcefunding.com

Australia offers 'best job in world' on paradise island

2009-01-13T08:13:00.000-08:00

SYDNEY (AFP) – An Australian state is offering internationally what it calls "the best job in the world" -- earning a top salary for lazing around a beautiful tropical island for six months.
The job pays 150,000 Australian dollars (105,000 US dollars) and includes free airfares from the winner's home country to Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland's state government announced on Tuesday.
In return, the "island caretaker" will be expected to stroll the white sands, snorkel the reef, take care of "a few minor tasks" -- and report to a global audience via weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates.
The successful applicant, who will stay rent-free in a three-bedroom beach home complete with plunge pool and golf buggy, must be a good swimmer, excellent communicator and be able to speak and write English.
"They'll also have to talk to media from time to time about what they're doing so they can't be too shy and they'll have to love the sea, the sun, the outdoors," said acting state Premier Paul Lucas.
"The fact that they will be paid to explore the islands of the Great Barrier Reef, swim, snorkel and generally live the Queensland lifestyle makes this undoubtedly the best job in the world."
Lucas said the campaign was part of a drive to protect the state's 18 billion Australian dollar a year tourism industry during the tough economic climate caused by the global financial meltdown.
"Traditional tourism advertising just doesn't cut it sometimes and we are thinking outside the box by launching this campaign."
Queensland Tourism Minister Desley Boyle said some people might question whether it was risky to let an unknown person become an unofficial tourism spokesperson for the state.
"I think the biggest risk will be that the successful candidate won't want to go home at the end of the six months," she said.
"This is a legitimate job which is open to anyone and everyone."
Applications are open until February 22. Eleven shortlisted candidates will be flown to Hamilton Island in early May for the final selection process and the six month contract will commence on July 1.
Job-seekers can apply on .
Islandreefjob.com

Staffing Jobs Declined Sharply in December

2009-01-13T06:44:00.000-08:00

From the American Staffing Association website:

Data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that temporary help jobs dropped significantly in December.
BLS nonseasonally adjusted data—which estimate actual employment—show temporary help employment declined 6.2% from November and was 19.9% lower than in December of last year. Seasonally adjusted data similarly show that temporary help employment fell 3.7% from November and declined 19% from one year prior.

"Temporary employment is unlikely to trough until December 2009," Wall Street analyst Jeffrey M. Silber of BMO Capital Markets Corp. said in a report issued to staffing stock investors last week. However, he suggested that the staffing industry may be about to stabilize. Silber projected little change in the actual number of temporary help employees from December 2008 through December 2009.

"The year-over-year declines in temporary staffing would begin to get 'less worse' in February 2009," he wrote. There will still be slight declines in staffing jobs through the end of the year, he forecasts, but the changes will soon approach single-digit percentages.
BLS also reported Friday that seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs declined by 524,000. This brings job losses in 2008 to 2.6 million, of which 1.9 million occurred in the past four months.

The unemployment rate increased to 7.2% in December from 6.7% in November.

Even though these number appear grim, the economy will turn around, and the staffing industry will be the leading indicator for the economy turning.

Department of Labor May Step Up Audits of Staffing Firms

2009-01-12T15:01:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has begun an outreach effort to staffing firms. DOL is sending letters reminding firms of their overtime obligations under the Fair Labor Standards Act and indicating that the DOL may audit the firms' compliance in the near future. Receipt of a letter does not necessarily mean that the staffing firm will be investigated by DOL. Nevertheless, since DOL has indicated that it will step up enforcement efforts, all staffing firms—both those that receive letters and those that do not—should review their compliance with federal wage and hour laws now.

Here are some tips to keep in mind:

 Staffing firms are obligated to pay nonexempt employees time and one-half for every hour worked over 40 in a workweek.
 A staffing firm and its client generally will be jointly responsible for overtime pay if the employee works over 40 hours for that client. If the work is split among more than one client and the employee does not work for more than 40 hours for any one client, the staffing firm alone will be responsible for the overtime pay.
 With the exception of certain computer professionals earning in excess of $27.63 per hour—and doctors, teachers, outside sales personnel, and lawyers—employees paid on an hourly basis generally are not exempt from federal overtime pay requirements.
 Executive, administrative, and professional employees are eligible for exemptions from overtime only if they perform the requisite duties associated with the exemption and they are paid on a salary basis.
 Travel to a job site at the beginning of a workday generally is not compensable, but travel from job site to job site during the workday generally will be compensable.

Dale Busbee Joins The Recruiters Roundtable Team

2009-01-12T13:53:00.001-08:00

January 12, 2009

I am happy to announce the addition of Dale Busbee to The Recruiters Roundtable staff as a contributing editor and columnist. Dale brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise through an extensive knowledgebase and dedication to the industry and most of all his integrity. I encourage you all to welcome Dale and please feel free to contact him directly anytime.

Welcome Dale!

~Keith

Keith D. Wolsko

Founder & Managing Editor

The Recruiters Roundtable – “Networking Together”

Dale Busbee Joins The Recruiters Roundtable Team

Bio – Dale Busbee

Dale brings 20 years of sales, marketing, and business development experience, the last 12 in the staffing and recruitment industry, both on the supplier and vendor side. He started his executive recruitment career in New Orleans with Management Search International (MSI), opening a nationwide allied health practice for MSI, placing nurses, pharmacists, and technologists with hospitals throughout the US. He continued with Keenan Staffing, placing medical and pharmaceutical reps with manufacturers in the US. In 2000, Dale opened his own executive search firm, Innovative Medical Recruiting, based on industry knowledge, placing medical and pharmaceutical sales, marketing, and business development reps throughout the US. He continued in that capacity until 2007, when he joined WL Funding, and combined his Finance degree with his staffing experience and moved to the vendor side, providing payroll funding and processing services to staffing companies nationwide. In 2008, Dale joined Sterling Resource Funding (www.sterlingresourcefunding.com), one of the oldest and largest working capital funding and payroll processing firms in the US. Sterling maintains over 400 staffing and IT consulting clients throughout the US, and Dale is responsible for calling on staffing and consulting owners to promote Sterling’s funding options.

Dale is joining The Recruiters Roundtable as a contributing editor and columnist to share his vast knowledge and expertise and to network with other staffing and recruitment professionals, and to provide updated industry knowledge to the members of this group. You may contact Dale directly via email (dbusbee@sterlingresourcefunding.com).

About Sterling Resource Funding Corp:

Sterling Resource Funding Corp (www.sterlingresourcefunding.com), a division of Sterling Bancorp, based in Woodbury, NY, is one of the oldest and largest financial institutions in the US that specifically focuses on the temporary, temp-to-perm, and contract staffing and recruitment industry. Our clients include staffing companies focused on various areas to include IT, accounting, clerical, light industrial, healthcare, engineering, security guards, and industrial. Currently Sterling services over 400 independent staffing and IT consulting firms throughout the US, providing payroll funding, accounts receivable financing, factoring, payroll processing, payroll tax processing, and working capital financing in support of their operations. Sterling is a member of the American Staffing Association (ASA), and the National Association of Computer Consulting Businesses (NACCB), as well as several other state staffing associations. Sterling provides its funding and operations support to staffing firms of all sizes, including start-ups to well established companies in the industry. Sterling Bancorp, the parent company, is a $2.1 Billion financial institution, providing banking services, asset based lending, middle market financing, equipment leasing, and factoring services. Sterling Bancorp is also the parent company of Sterling National Bank, located in New York City, with several branch bank locations in the Tri-State area of New York. Contact for Sterling Resource Funding Corp is Dale Busbee, Business Development Executive, dbusbee@sterlingresourcefunding.com.

Kennametal announces layoffs for 1,200 workers as part of restructuring

2009-01-12T13:24:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of: Pittsburgh Business Times

Kennametal Inc. announced layoffs for 1,200 employees Monday morning amid what it called a global decline in industrial production.

"We are implementing and accelerating restructuring in response to the current market challenges," Carlos M. Cardoso, Kennametal CEO, said in a statement. "While we will work to minimize the impact of these actions on our customers and employees, we will continue to monitor the economic environment and take further steps as warranted."

The company will reduce its global salaried workforce by 800 positions within the next three to six months. Those are in addition to the 400 positions Kennametal announced it was eliminating in April.

The Latrobe-based manufacturer of industrial tools and specialty metals said the job cuts include 90 employees at its headquarters and 60 across the company’s Bedford, New Castle and Irwin locations. Kennametal employs about 1,600 in Pennsylvania, and 14,000 worldwide.

The company said the actions will give Kennametal about $100 million in pre-tax annual savings.

“Kennametal has made great progress in becoming a resilient company by pursuing our strategies to balance the company across businesses and geographies, and this has led us to be a stronger company than we were during the last downturn,” spokeswoman Christina Reitano said in an e-mail. “However, we are not immune to an economic crisis as deep and global in nature as this one is turning out to be. Customer demand is down and therefore, we must right-size the business as appropriate to keep Kennametal competitive and poised for future growth.

Kennametal also reduced its earnings forecast for the second quarter that ended Dec. 31 to 34 cents per share, excluding restructuring charges of about 14 cents per share. The company previously had estimated income between 51 cents and 56 cents per share.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters have predicted a profit of 48 cents per share.

Kennametal (NYSE: KMT) will announce second quarter results Jan. 29.

http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2009/01/12/daily3.html?ana=e_du_pub

Cigna cutting 1,100 jobs

2009-01-07T21:52:00.001-08:00

Cigna cutting 1,100 jobs

In actions described as a response to the economic downturn, health insurer Cigna Corp. said late Monday that it would be laying off 1,100 employees, roughly 4 percent of its work force, as well as consolidating unspecified real estate locations.

Information on how the moves will affect Philadelphia, where the company has its headquarters, or Pittsburgh, where Cigna is the region's 12th-largest health insurer, was not made available.

Cigna said it expects to incur between $30 million and $40 million, after tax, in cost reduction charges in fourth-quarter 2008.

“Given the unprecedented economic situation we and our customers are facing, these actions are essential to ensure we can meet their needs for high value, cost effective products and services,” Cigna Chairman and CEO H. Edward Hanway said in a statement. “Decisions like these are difficult and never made lightly, but they are necessary given the current environment.”

The job eliminations are anticipated to be in large part complete by midyear 2009 and the company said affected employees will be eligible for severance benefits and outplacement support.

CIGNA (NYSE:CI) said it will provide more information on its cost reduction charge during its fourth-quarter earnings call scheduled for Feb. 5.

Alcoa to cut 13,500 jobs, slash production…

2009-01-07T21:39:00.000-08:00

Alcoa to cut 13,500 jobs, slash production…

Alcoa Inc. will lay off 13,500 employees, or about 13 percent of its global workforce, by the end of 2009 as “extraordinary times” squeeze the aluminum giant.

Besides slashing personnel, Alcoa will freeze salaries and hiring, further throttle back production and halve 2009 capital expenditures, the company announced in a news release Tuesday afternoon.

“These are extraordinary times, requiring speed and decisiveness to address the current economic downturn, and flexibility and foresight to be prepared for future uncertainties in our markets,” CEO and President Klaus Kleinfeld said in a prepared statement. “We are taking a wide-ranging set of aggressive, but prudent, measures to ensure that Alcoa maintains its competitive lead in today’s challenging markets while also emerging even strong when the economy recovers.”

Aluminum prices have plunged this year as homebuilding and auto manufacturing industries have sputtered. The Wall Street crisis further pummeled the company’s share prices, which have dropped by more than half since September.

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) closed at $12.12 Tuesday, down from $33.11 January 7, 2008.

Alcoa reports its fourth quarter earnings Monday.

Headquartered in New York, Alcoa employs about 2,000 on Pittsburgh’s North Shore.

The company has incrementally been curtailing its smelting production, announcing an immediate 350,000 metric tons per year reduction in November and cutting production 25 percent at its Point Comfort, Texas smelter in October.

By further reducing production another 135,000 metric tons, Alcoa will have cut about 18 percent total of the company’s production.

The company also said it planned to sell its electric systems business, automotive wheels business, global foil and its Europe-based transportation products business.

Capital expenditures will be $1.8 billion, down about 50 percent from 2008, the company said. However, the company will spend about $750 million on completing two “key growth projects” in Brazil in the first half of 2009.

Alcoa’s actions are “certainly in the right direction and moves the company should take,” BMO Capital Markets analyst Tony Robson said.

The End of the Charles James Era

2009-01-07T21:18:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of:
David Scheffler - HRworks
Director of Recruitment Compliance and Process Engineering

The End of the Charles James Era...

As we come to the close of 2008 and the end of Charles James’ era of directing the OFCCP, I thought it would make sense to provide a quick update and reflect back on the tenure of Mr. James and his leadership.

Each Deputy Assistant Secretary of the OFCCP brought change to the OFCCP and I think it would be safe to say each used the successes of the past administration to help the OFCCP evolve. To gain an understanding of the impact that Charles James had on the OFCCP, you must first look at the changes he put in place since being appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Employment Standards Administration and Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) on June 12, 2001.

The OFCCP introduced seven new directives in the last seven months, with 15 directives in the eight years that Charles James was over the OFCCP. The seven directives on the books in 2008 mark the highest policy revision activity at the OFCCP, nearly doubling 1998 where four directives where passed. In addition to the 15 directives, Charles James passed the Internet Applicant revisions to the Executive Order in October 2005. Since President Carter formed the OFCCP, they have passed 38 directives. This means that Charles James passed over 39% of the directives in his eight year tenure.

Whether or not you agree with the directives Charles James passed, you cannot deny that he helped recover over $300 million in make whole remedies during his tenure. The official numbers for Fiscal 2008 are in and the OFCCP had another record year. The record $67,510,982 in back pay, salary and benefits for an unprecedented 24,508 workers represent nearly two and one half times the make whole remedies from 2001 where over $28 million was recovered.

Charles James was able to accomplish this by incorporating his business experience from Bell and implementing a business plan to change the OFCCP. In doing so, he introduced business execution to the agency’s national office and showed success year after year. Charles James mentioned on many occasions that he “won’t give away the secret sauce of the OFCCP”. I suggest the secret sauce has been front and center since 2003 where the focus was shifted to systemic discrimination and as a result the fines have never reduced from one fiscal year to the next.

As we look at the new administration coming into office, many are wondering if the OFCCP will be as effective. To answer this you have to look at the business model Charles James incorporated that the next Deputy Assistant Secretary will inherit. First and foremost no cases move forward in the OFCCP until they pass the threshold of case worthiness. Once met, the case goes to the solicitors’ office (OFCCP lawyers) who reviews cases to determine the merit of pursuing. Then and only then does the OFCCP invest its time in litigation. This is in stark contrast to the prior administrations of the OFCCP. To quote Charles James, he eliminated the “drive-by audits” that were once an issue with government contractors. Furthermore, Charles James restructured the departments in the OFCCP and the statistician group is now over the technology department.

No matter who is appointed as the new Deputy Assistant Secretary of the OFCCP, they will receive the “Secret Sauce” from Charles James and be poised to eclipse the amount of make whole remedies recovered under Charles James tenure.

If you are not yet a member of the Recruitment Compliance Group on LinkedIn and you would like to receive future updates, please select the following link to join the group: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/108929. There is no fee to join the group or to use LinkedIn.

Celebrating Six Months Since Our Launch!!!

2009-01-06T03:19:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!!!

We are happy to announce that on January 10, 2009 we will be celebrating six months since we officially launched The Recruiters Roundtable. We have had greater than anticipated growth and we owe it all to you, the members of the table. Since our launch on LinkedIn Groups, we have welcomed 719 members to date, which averages out to approximately 120 new members each month. This does not include any numbers from our presence on other sites (i.e. Yahoo! Groups, Facebook, RecruitingBlogs, etc). We thank you for all of your support and continued help in growing our community.

We have set the bar very high for 2009 and hope to add an additional 1,000 members by 12/31/2009, and we NEED YOUR HELP to accomplish this goal. So when you’re speaking with a fellow colleague, candidate, hiring manager, neighbor, family member, etc., please make the pitch for them to join the group on LinkedIn and follow us on our blog and career center. This is NOT a site to collect data or information other than for our own tracking purposes, so anyone with reservations about joining, please know that we respect your privacy.

In closing, we need your help to achieve our goal of 1,000 new members in the next year and we are confident that through your passion for networking and desire to surround yourself with the best that we will achieve and exceed our goal. If each of you could have a minimum of 5 colleagues, friends, relatives, etc., join the group, we will have achieved our goal and then some. So please help us in our desire to provide you with the best free networking and career site available on the web. We put a lot of time into this group for not only ourselves, but for you too, so please “pay it forward” and help us reach our goals. As usual, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me via the below email. Thanks again for a fantastic start and celebrating our first 6 months and we’re looking forward to you helping us to achieve an even brighter future. Until next time, we hope to see you at the table!!!

To Join on LinkedIn:

http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/138984/3E9D2A5D3758

All My Best,

~Keith

Keith D. Wolsko
Founder & Managing Editor
The Recruiters Roundtable – “Networking Together”
| Email Me | LinkedIn | My Resume |
| The Roundtable | Career Center |
Keith@therecruitersroundtable.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/keithwolsko
http://keithwolsko.emurse.com/resume/
http://www.therecruitersroundtable.com/
http://careercenter-recruitersroundtable.blogspot.com/

Faces of The Roundtable...Please Take a Minute to Follow Us!!!

2009-01-06T02:33:00.000-08:00

Hello and Happy New Year Everyone!!!

As we enter 2009 we are going to continue to improve on our site and we need your help and input to do so. We have recently added a "followers" gadget to both the main blog as well as the career center and we are asking you to kindly take a moment and follow our blog by clicking on the link on the right hand side or each site where it says “Faces of The Roundtable.” We are a completely virtual group, but that doesn’t mean we can’t put a name and a face together. It only takes a second and it would be an immense help to us in our next step in our development. So please, take a minute and follow both The Recruiters Roundtable and the Career Center. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly via the below email address. Thank you for your support and interest in our group and we hope you will continue to support us. Until next time, have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009 and we hope to see you at the table!

All My Best,

~Keith

Happy Holiday's From The Recruiters Roundtable!!!

2008-12-22T17:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Holiday's to All of You!!!

I would like to wish all of the members of The Recruiters Roundtable a very happy and safe holiday season and a prosperous and healthy New Year! We appreciate all of you for helping our group to take off and continue growing and are looking forward to even bigger and better things in 2009!

As always, if you are interested in contributing a weekly column on our blog (http://www.therecruitersroundtable.com), please contact me directly to discuss and we can discuss what you would like to write about in your area of expertise. We are looking forward to a BIG 2009 at The Recruiters Roundtable and hope that you will continue to use us as one of the key tools in your professional toolbox.

Thank you all again and we'll see you at the table in the New Year!!! Please remember to refer your friends and colleagues to join our group and help take us to new heights!

Have a Safe and Happy Holiday Season and a Very Happy, Healthy & Prosperous New Year!!!

All My Best,

~Keith

Keith D. Wolsko
Founder & Managing Editor
The Recruiters Roundtable – “Networking Together”
Email Me | LinkedIn | My Resume |
| The Roundtable | Career Center |
Keith@therecruitersroundtable.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/keithwolsko
http://keithwolsko.emurse.com/resume/
http://www.therecruitersroundtable.com/
http://careercenter-recruitersroundtable.blogspot.com/

Jobless ranks hit 10 million, most in 25 years

2008-11-07T22:17:00.000-08:00

By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON – The nation's jobless ranks zoomed past 10 million last month, the most in a quarter-century, as piles of pink slips shut factory gates and office doors to 240,000 more Americans with the holidays nearing. Politicians and economists agreed on a painful bottom line: It's only going to get worse.

The unemployment rate soared to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent, the government said Friday, up from 6.1 percent just a month earlier. And there was more grim news from U.S. automakers: Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp., American giants struggling to survive, each reported big losses and figured to be announcing even more job cuts before long.

Barack Obama, in his first news conference as president-elect, said the nation was facing the economic challenge of a lifetime but expressed confidence he could deal with it.

"Immediately after I become president, I'm going to confront this economic crisis head on by taking all necessary steps to ease the credit crisis, help hardworking families, and restore growth and prosperity," he said after meeting with economic advisers in Chicago. "I'm confident a new president can have an enormous impact."

Wall Street revived somewhat after two days of big losses. The Dow Jones industrials rose 248 points.

Still, the Labor Department's unemployment report provided stark evidence that the economy's health was deteriorating at an alarmingly rapid pace. The jobless rate was 4.8 percent just one year ago.

About 10.1 million people were unemployed in October, the most since the fall of 1983. More people have jobs now, since the population has grown, but it's still a staggering jobless figure. With employers slashing jobs every month so far this year, some 1.2 million positions have disappeared, over half in the past three months alone.

Like Obama, President Bush expressed confidence that things would get better: "Our economy has overcome great challenges before, and we can be confident that it will do so again."

But economists were much less upbeat than politicians.

"There is no light at the end of the tunnel, and the outlook is pitch black," said Richard Yamarone, economist at Argus Research.

And Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group, said the report "depicts an economy still in free fall and without a safety net anywhere in sight."

All the economy's woes — a housing collapse, mounting foreclosures, hard-to-get credit and financial market upheaval — will confront Obama when he assumes office in January. Unemployment is expected to keep rising during his first year in office, while record budget deficits will crimp his domestic agenda.

October's jobless rate was the highest since March 1994 and now has surpassed the 6.3 percent 2003 high after the most recent recession. The government also said job losses were worse than first reported for the preceding two months, 284,000 rather than 159,000 in September and 127,000 rather than 73,000 in August.

Many economists believe the unemployment rate will climb to 8 percent or 8.5 percent by the end of next year before slowly drifting downward. Some think unemployment could even hit 10 or 11 percent — if an auto company should fail.

In any case, the rate is likely to move higher even if the economy is on somewhat stronger footing by the middle of next year as some hope. That's because companies won't be inclined to ramp up hiring until they feel certain that a recovery has staying power.

Joshua Shapiro, chief economist at consulting firm MFR Inc., said another reason the unemployment rate can keep climbing — even after a recession is over — is because people tend to flock back to the labor market when they sense their job prospects might be better. "It takes (people) awhile to figure out, 'Hey, there's jobs out there,'" Shapiro said.

In the 1980-1982 recession — considered the worst since the Great Depression in terms of unemployment — the jobless rate rose as high as 10.8 percent in late 1982 just as the recession ended, before inching down.

Friday's report was worse than analysts had expected. They had been forecasting a jobless rate of 6.3 percent with payrolls falling about 200,000.

Factories, including auto makers, construction companies, especially home builders, retailers, mortgage bankers, securities firms, hotels and motels and educational services, all cut jobs. As did temporary help firms — a barometer of future hiring. All those losses more than swamped the few gains elsewhere, including in the government, health care and in accounting and bookkeeping.

Private companies cut 263,000 jobs, the most since the country was beginning to emerge from the 2001 recession. It marked the 11th straight month of such reductions.

The grim numbers spurred calls from Democrats on Capitol Hill to provide fresh relief. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats, in a lame-duck session later this month, will push to enact another economic stimulus package of around $100 billion, possibly including provisions to create jobs through big public works projects.

Obama said if the session doesn't bring passage, the measure will be his first priority as president in January.

He has called for about $175 billion in new stimulus spending, including money for roads, bridges and aid to hard-pressed states. He wants a rebate of $500 for individuals, $1,000 for families and a new $3,000 tax credit for businesses for each new job created.

Workers with jobs saw only modest wages gains in October. Average hourly earnings rose to $18.21, a 0.2 percent increase from the previous month. Over the past year, wages have grown 3.5 percent, but paychecks aren't stretching far because high food, energy and other prices have propelled overall inflation at a faster pace.

The economy has lost its footing in just a few months. It contracted at a 0.3 percent pace in the July-September quarter, signaling the onset of a likely recession. It was the worst showing since the 2001 recession, and reflected a massive pullback by consumers.

As consumers watch jobs disappear, they'll probably retrench even further, spelling more trouble. Analysts say the economy is still shrinking in the current October-December quarter and will contract further in the first quarter of next year. All that more than fulfills a classic definition of a recession: two straight quarters of contracting economic activity.

"The U.S. recession is deepening," said Michael Gregory, economist at BMO Capital Markets Economics. The final quarter of this year is getting off to a "particularly ugly" start.

___

AP Economics Writer Christopher S. Rugaber contributed to this report.

We Are In Transition To A New Domain Name...

2008-11-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

Our blog's new address is http://www.therecruitersroundtable.com/. Since it takes time for this new address to be available all over the Internet, you can still get to it at http://recruitersroundtable.blogspot.com.

Our new address should work for everyone after at most 3 days. At that time we will redirect our readers from your old address to the new one.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly. Thank you!

Best,

~Keith

Keith D. Wolsko
Managing Editor & Founder -
The Recruiters Roundtable
(724) 942-0905 – Direct Voice
Keith@therecruitersroundtable.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/keithwolsko
http://www.therecruitersroundtable.com/

We Need Your Input!!!

2008-11-07T15:15:00.000-08:00

Hello All!

As we are at the end of another week, I wanted to ask all of you what you would like to see in this group. What would you like to do here? Well, actually our main site at: http://recruitersroundtable.blogspot.com/ and view the "links section" of the page to direct you to the rest of our web presence. We are currently updating and have not had many suggestions, so we're asking again. What do you want to see? What topics would you like to see covered on a daily or weekly basis? Would you like to be a contributing author and have your own column? Anything and everything is welcome and open to serious consideration on our part. If we have any questions on your suggestions and ideas, we'll contact you and perhaps you can help if you so desire.

So when thinking about what you would like to see, please don't hold back and those that we can implement we will and those that aren't within our capabilities at this time, we will shelf them for future updates. We are trying to make this as informational and useful to your daily business activities and we are developing it all for you, with your suggestions. So PLEASE don't hold back!

We're growing and growing fast! We can still get bigger and maximize our efforts to benefit all of us if we refer our colleagues, friends, family, clients, etc., to this group. It's only going to give us a larger knowledgebase which we can pass on to all of you. So get the word out to join! We can't do it without you, so please pass the word and invite everyone you can to join us at the table.

Here is the URL to join:
http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/138984/3E9D2A5D3758

Here is the URL to the main site:
http://recruitersroundtable.blogspot.com/

Here is the URL to the Career Center:
http://careercenter-recruitersroundtable.blogspot.com/

Thank You All!!! We're Looking Forward to Your Input!!!

Have a Great Weekend!!!

~Keith

Keith D. Wolsko
The Recruiters Roundtable
Keith.Wolsko@comcast.net

The Recruiters Roundtable LinkedIn Group Reaches 500+ Members!!!

2008-10-12T17:50:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

We are happy to announce that The Recruiters Roundtable LinkedIn Group has exceeded 500+ members in just a few short months! Thank you all who have joined and continue to "sit at the table" so to speak.

We want to continue to grow and we NEED YOUR HELP to do so. Please tell your friends, colleagues, candidates, hiring managers, etc., about the group and help us reach our next milestone.

As always, we're seeking contributors for the main blog and are open to a variety of topics, so please contact me directly if you are interested in contributing. Also, don't forget to visit the career center also. Here you are able to post jobs, resumes, networking and lead requests, etc.

Thanks again everyone!

Best,

Keith Wolsko
The Recruiters Roundtable

The OFCCP passes a new directive on I-9s

2008-09-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

On September 5^th the OFCCP signed a new directive that gives formal guidance to the Compliance Officers (CO) on how to review a contractor’s I-9 forms. The directive was the OFCCP’s reaction to the changes in the I-9 form requirements over the last year. The first change occurred on June 5, 2007 where the I-9 form was revised and they eliminated five documents that were previously acceptable for validating employment eligibility. Then on June 9, 2008, the President signed an amendment to Executive Order 12989 which required, as a condition of future contracts, that federal contractors use an electronic verification system to confirm the employment eligibility of new hires and existing personnel assigned to the new federal contract.

The new OFCCP directive on examining I-9s during an on-site review includes the following points that the CO should pay close attention to:

For all employees that were hired, rehired, or re-verified since November 7, 2007 the new I-9 forms should be used
All electronically reproduced or retrieved I-9s should be reviewed to determine if they are legible and there is no evidence of inserts or changes made to the name, content, or sequence of the data elements.
The CO may request that the contractor retrieve the supporting documentation for the I-9s. The auditor can also ask for the associated audit trails for a given period of time to determine if the I-9s are free of tampering.
The CO may request that the contractor provides appropriate resources, such as computers, software, personnel, etc., to review the audit trail and reports to determine the authenticity, integrity and reliability of the records.
The CO should request a summary file that contains all the information fields on all electronically stored I-9s.

The link to the new I-9 directive has been included below for your review.

http://www.dol.gov/esa/ofccp/regs/compliance/directives/dir284.htm

If you received this email and you are not a member of the Recruitment Compliance Group on LinkedIn and you would like to receive future updates, please select the following link to join http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/108929. There is no fee to join the group or to use LinkedIn. If you would like to be removed from the group and no longer receive similar updates, please reply to this email and enter “Remove me from the Recruitment Compliance Group” in the subject field of the email.

HP to cut 24,600 jobs as part of EDS integration

2008-09-15T16:46:00.000-07:00

By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - Hewlett-Packard Co. said Monday it plans to slash 24,600 jobs over the next three years, nearly 8 percent of its work force, as it combines operations with Electronic Data Systems Corp., the technology-services company it recently acquired.

Most of the cuts will come from within EDS's ranks, and nearly half will hit jobs in the U.S., HP said Monday after the markets closed.

HP had not previously detailed how many employees of the combined company would lose their jobs. Before the acquisition, HP had 178,000 people and EDS had 142,000, a total of 320,000.

HP was expected to reveal more details about the integration at a meeting with financial analysts in San Francisco later Monday.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP bought EDS for $13.9 billion in a bid to challenge IBM Corp. for more of the lucrative, long-term business of helping companies manage their computing infrastructure.

HP expects to save $1.8 billion per year from the cuts once the restructuring is complete. The company will incur a $1.7 billion charge in the current quarter, its fiscal fourth quarter, for a goodwill adjustment and other costs connected to the restructuring.

HP CEO Mark Hurd has been aggressive about cutting costs since he was hired in 2005. His first big act was a major restructuring that eliminated nearly 15,000 jobs.

Hurd's changes have helped HP wring more profits from its businesses even as the personal-computer industry as a whole grapples with shrinking profit margins, and HP's crown-jewel business — printer ink — faces intensifying competition from lower-cost competitors.

HP shares fell $1.64, or 3.5 percent, to $45.33 in regular-session trading. In after-hours trading, the stock gained 42 cents to $45.75.

OFCCP “Homestretch” Webinar

2008-09-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday September 10, David Frank, deputy director of the OFCCP, held his last public webinar on “The Homestretch”. Below is a brief summary of the call. If you would like to read the full presentation, go to: http://www.dol.gov/esa/ofccp/Presentation/homestretch_pres.pdf

The OFCCP “Homestretch” webinar covered:

FCSS Schedule for 2009
Online Application Systems and providing equal opportunity to individuals with disabilities
New EEO categories in the AAP
G-FIVE directive
Electronic record keeping
Internet redesign & FAQ updates

David Frank reiterated the OFCCP will continue to focus on systemic discrimination and is releasing a new directive next week outlining the new Active Case Management for compliance officers. The new Active Case Management will help streamline the current procedures to maximize current OFCCP resources. The goal of the OFCCP is to close a majority of the audits at the desk audit stage. The Directive will also incorporate quality compliance evaluations to help ensure compliance with VEVRAA and Section 503 of ADA. The quality compliance evaluations will be conducted on 1 out of every 50 audits regardless of the presence of discrimination. Therefore, since renewed attention will be paid to a company’s good faith efforts, contractors must have excellent record management in order to avoid possible record keeping violations. In other words, simply because you do not have any indices of discrimination, the OFCCP may randomly select your site to assess your processes which may result in record keeping violations and conciliation agreements. And, of course, the OFCCP will continue to focus as well on systemic discrimination.

FCSS Schedule for FY2009:

First Release will be the second week of 2008 for 2,500 establishments and the second release will be March 2009 with 5,000 establishments.

Online Application Systems and providing equal opportunity to individuals with disabilities:

The OFCCP stated: “Contractors must ensure that qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans have an equal opportunity to apply and compete for jobs.” What does this mean to a government contractor? Contractors must ensure reasonable accommodations are available to a disabled person should accommodations be requested in order to apply for a position with the government contractor.

For organizations that accept paper and electronic applications, accommodations can be made at the time of the request. It becomes more complicated when contractors only accept applications online. If the contractor’s online system does not provide accommodations for the applicant’s disability, the applicant should be clearly notified of an alternate method to be considered for a position. In the event that the contractor is not currently providing an alternative solution, the contractor could be found in violation of the Executive Order. The OFCCP also urged contractors to pay close attention to the various ways that candidates apply for jobs such as Kiosks. The OFCCP suggested referencing ODEP (www.dol.gov/odep) and JAN (www.jan.wvu.edu) for additional information.

New EEO-1 Categories:

The OFCCP will not cite any contractor for non-compliance with executive order solely because they use the new race, ethnicity, or job categories required for the new EEO-1 report. They went on to note that persons with two or more races should be accounted for in the total minority representation within a contractor’s affirmative action plan and are not required to run a separate analysis on the two or more races breakout. If contractors wish to use the new EEO-1 race and ethnicity groups, they should pay close attention as to how they are incorporated into the affirmative action plan to make sure the proper data is being analyzed.

G-FIVE:

The OFCCP reviewed the requirements for the G-Five recognition and stressed the fact that nominated sites must have undergone a compliance evaluation within the last 24 months or they will be scheduled for one. Contractors may self-nominate more than one facility as currently there is not a limit to the number of facilities who may receive the recognition. Contractors should keep in mind the G-FIVE status is given out per plan and only covers the specific site - not the whole organization.

Electronic Recordkeeping:

The OFCCP stressed the importance of being able to recreate the entire document in printed form upon request of a compliance officer prior to destroying the original document.

Internet redesign & FAQ updates:

The OFCCP has updated their website and have added additional content to the FAQs.

http://www.dol.gov/esa/ofccp/regs/compliance/faqs/offaqs.htm

Thanks to David Scheffler of HRworks for this contribution. dscheffler@HRworks.com

We NEED Your Help!

2008-08-28T15:45:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

In the spirit of networking and helping others identify their next contract or full-time position, specifically within the virtual/remote workspace, we are asking all of you to PLEASE take a moment to contact me with any submittals of companies who are virtually/remote employee friendly. While we are aware of many, we are seeking to compile a list which can continuously be updated and requested by any member of The Recruiters Roundtable. When submitting, please contact Keith Wolsko directly via email and submit in the following format:

Company Name - ABC Company
Target Audience - Financial Services
URL/Home Page - www.abc.com

If you have any questions on this request, please don’t hesitate to ask and I will respond promptly. As is with any other aspect of The Recruiters Roundtable, this is something that cannot be done without help and contributions from all of you, so PLEASE help us in this information gathering request. Thanks!

Until Next Time,

Keith Wolsko
The Recruiters Roundtable

Assessing Your Recruitment Capabilities - Complimentary Webinar

2008-08-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

With ongoing competition for top talent and ever shrinking resources, the challenge for those responsible for acquiring, retaining, and managing talent continues to grow. How do you ensure you have the right resources applied to meet the challenge?

Join the RPO Alliance for an informative presentation of insights from its recently released Recruitment Assessment Guide: A Guide to Evaluating the Recruiting Process. Developed through a collaborative effort by industry experts, the assessment was designed to be a valuable component in assisting companies as they determine not only their internal needs but the value of RPO to their businesses.

The webinar will address business-critical aspects of the recruitment process:

Planning
Marketing/advertising and branding
Current recruiting activities
Candidate experience
The use of technology
Total base case and cost-of-hire
Metrics
Assessing findings

The 45-minute webinar, followed by 15 minutes of questions and answers with participants, will take place on Tuesday, September 9, 2008, at noon Eastern time.

To register, click here

About the HROA

The HROA is the only professional membership association committed to promoting the advancement of human resources transformation in complex organizations.
The mission of the HROA is to support the human resources transformation through education, advocacy and the promotion of best practices. As a membership organization, we provide online and offline networking, best practices and independent commentary on the evolution of HR transformation.

www.hroa.org

DATE: Tuesday, September 9, 2008
TIME: Noon ET, 11 am CT, 10 am MT, 9 am PT
TO REGISTER: click here

Thanks to the HROA for this information!

Keith Wolsko
The Recruiters Roundtable

Corporate Rating Site Is Part of A Trend You Need To Watch

2008-08-26T18:21:00.001-07:00

I noticed this post from John Zappe from the ERE and thought it might be useful to some of us.

By: John Zappe
Aug 26, 2008, 6:04 am ET

Rating employers is not a new idea. Vault has been doing it for years and for pay. There’s JobVent, which has an 11 point rating system and the ability to leave comments. Jobster has a feature where employees can talk about what it’s like working for their company. F–ked Company used to have the dirt on all sorts of companies until it got, you know.

So when we came across the announcement of CorporateGrade.com we were admittedly underwhelmed. But considered from the standpoint of it being part of a trend, the site takes on greater importance.

CorporateGrade.com is new and in beta, so it doesn’t have much in the way of content yet. But it’s easy to use and has a good bit of sophistication. Ratings can be anonymous, although the registration process does require a valid email address. Not that that’s going to deter bitter employees or ex-workers or even just someone out to sully a company. While that’s often the first objection raised by company officials (only the disgruntled participate in these sites), we found just the opposite to be true. CorporateGrade’s first participants appear to be a balanced lot, providing a good glimpse of life inside a company, a division or the office where they work.

Ratings have been around even before the Internet. But those were either compiled by an ambitious author (Places Rated Almanac, for example) or were limited surveys. The Internet expanded the reach, and opened the door to anyone who wanted to participate. Today, ratings have become so available and influential that a very high percentage of consumers both consult product reviews before making a buying decision and are influenced by what they read. Social media is increasingly exerting both an influence on decision-making and providing a way for consumers to offer feedback.

A single negative rating may have a negligible impact. (Or not. Remember the story of Night Clerk Mike?) But a company whose corporate culture doesn’t match its branding efforts is in jeopardy of being bypassed by top talent.

“… There is a growing group of highly desirable consumers using social media to research companies: 25- to 55-years old, college-educated, earning $100,000+ – a very powerful group in terms of buying behavior,” says Dr. Ganim Nora Barnes, senior fellow, Society for New Communications Research. She was talking about the study we referenced above. But her comment that “These most savvy and sought after consumers will not support companies with poor customer care reputations, and they will talk about all of this openly with others via multiple online vehicles” could just as easily apply to top talent.

Says Karin Lash, regional director, interactive strategy for TMP Worldwide, “Social media today allows unprecedented access to employees in your organization. So if you put a message out there and that experience is not the reality folks are going to find out very quickly.”

Think that’s just so much marketing theory? Here’s what a self-described employee at a Kaiser Permanente wrote on CorporateGrade.com about her workplace: “Kaiser is a good company but it’s just a name. Don’t go into a job there thinking about the name, it presents with just as many issues as the next.”

Thanks to our friends at the ERE for this article!

Keith Wolsko
The Recruiters Roundtable

Coming Friday - New Group Functions on LinkedIn

2008-08-26T17:46:00.000-07:00

This Friday, LinkedIn will be adding several much-requested features to our group, The Recruiters Roundtable. Some of the enhancements include:

Discussion forums: Simple discussion spaces for our members.
Enhanced roster: Searchable list of group members.
Digest emails: Daily or weekly digests of new discussion topics which your members may choose to receive. (We will be turning digests on for all current group members soon, and prompting them to set to their own preference.)
Group home page: A private space for The Recruiters Roundtable members on LinkedIn.

We're confident that these new features will spur communication, promote collaboration, and make The Recruiters Roundtable more valuable to all of our members. We hope you can come by LinkedIn on Friday to check out the new functionalities. As usual, suggestions are welcomed!

Keith Wolsko

The Recruiters Roundtable

Sample Candidate Posting Now Up in the Career Center...

2008-08-24T06:37:00.001-07:00

Hello All,

Please see my profile below as the recommended standard of posting your candidacy announcement to The Recruiters Roundtable Career Center. If you have any questions or difficulties, please don’t hesitate to ask. This is only the recommended procedure.

SAMPLE CANDIDATE PROFILE SUGGESTION

Candidate Availability Announcement: Keith Wolsko – Pittsburgh, PA - Sr. Recruiter, Sourcer, Screener/Interviewer, etc. – 100% Virtual/Remote Assignments ONLY!!!

To Whom It May Concern:

Please accept my candidacy (View My Resume) for any current or future positions with your organization. I possess over 13 years of hands-on, progressive experience in all facets of recruiting, staffing, talent acquisition, sourcing, interviewing, screening, etc., and have experience across all business verticals. Additionally, I have vast experience recruiting in all North American markets with local, regional and national experience in both corporate and agency environments. I am available immediately and welcome the opportunity to discuss my background and qualifications. Upon review of my resume below (please click the View My Resume) should you desire a complete copy of my credentials, please ask. Thank you.

Keith Wolsko
Pittsburgh, PA
(724) 942-0905 – Voice
http://keithwolsko.emurse.com/resume/

Announcing The Recruiters Roundtable Career Center!!!

2008-08-23T22:53:00.000-07:00

Announcing The Recruiters Roundtable Career Center!!! We hope we can help in your staff, recruiting and job seeking needs. We created this site extension because of the need to have a separate site for employers to post their jobs and candidates to post their resume or announce their candidacy in an informal setting. We are just getting this site off the ground and you may or may not notice some changes as we go, but we are live and open to post. You can view us at: http://careercenter-recruitersroundtable.blogspot.com/ or view us via our locations link on the side of this blog.

To post on The Recruiters Roundtable Career Center, you must send anything you would like posted to us for review and we will then take action on it ASAP and get it up for you. We don’t edit content and if something is not acceptable, we will inform you of it. We are taking the time to do this, so please NO RESUME COLLECTING!!! It defeats the purpose of this site and will only result in your removal of posting privileges. Other than that, please feel free to request posts for jobs and resumes all you would like. For our convenience and timely posting of your request, we ask that you please following the below formats:

When Posting Jobs:

When requesting a job to be posted, we ask that you submit positions via email in one of the following formats:

- Complete posting via an MS-Word or PDF file.
- Complete posting via email in plain text formatting.
- Complete posting via online URL’s directly from your ATS.

We prefer and encourage those using an ATS or other web-based applicant tracking system follow our easy format by providing the basic vitals in a brief description and include the URL and/or email address and individuals can contact you directly this way or apply online, ultimately making all of our live a little easier. If you have any questions on this process, please do not hesitate to ask by contacting me at Keith.Wolsko@comcast.net

When Posting Resumes:

We encourage you the job seeker contact the posting recruiter directly via their provided email and number or apply online via their provided links. However, that being said, below is what you will need to post your resume here in the career center.

When requesting to have your resume posted, we are taking a different approach in order to not only save the environment with helping to take out the “paper element,” but we are also going to try and help our good friends over at Emurse.com. This only takes a minute and it is something that will be yours forever and best of all, basic membership (which is all you need), is FREE!

Please go to www.emurse.com and create a basic account, select one of their many template options and complete your profile. Once finished, you’re ready to start hunting! This is only a request and not a must, however depending on the flow of requests coming in we can only work so fast. So we request resumes in the following formats:

-Resume posting via your Emurse resume (see mine at
http://keithwolsko.emurse.com/resume/)
-Resume or profile posting via your MS-Word Resume
-Resume or profile positng via email in plain text format

Thank you, happy posting and please let us know if you have any questions!!!

Keith Wolsko
The Recruiters Roundtable

My Rebuttal...Colleges and Univesities...Butt Out!!!

2008-08-22T18:55:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, I take complete offense to this article. Not the content or the writer, but rather the subject that makes it complete. The college or university that our children attend, or even some of us for that matter is now going to work in conjunction with the local municipalities and take academic or disciplinary action against the student? I’m sorry, did I read that correctly?

Now I don’t take all of the content in this article to argument as there are good points from both sides. What I do take to argument is the combination of a “unified” police force throughout our cities, states, municipalities, etc., between those police forces and the university or college that my child, relative or myself may attend. What right do they have to come into our lives and stake claim on our actions inside a bar, party, fraternity house, etc., and then turn around and strike the offending individual in their academic or professional lives. With help from the local police no less?! This is beyond a violation of our civil rights and I cannot believe that there isn’t much more coverage of this topic. Where is the ACLU on this one?

While I agree 100% that an individual is (most of the time) entirely responsible for their actions no matter where it is. Whether it’s work, school, your local watering hole, a party, a public event, social, whatever, you are the person responsible for what you do or say and the ramifications they may present. However, there are different levels of discipline and all are established for a reason and this “unified” front is just the beginning of something more unless we stop it. Just imagine. If this is a successful project and continues to gain momentum through lies, pocket lining, set-ups, etc., perhaps employers will want to adopt a similar program with your local municipality. You may laugh and I would too, if I were you, but this is where it’s headed unless we sit up, take notice and make our voices heard. Stop laughing, I’m serious!

More and more the government, employers and all of their entities, including the educational system are becoming increasingly invasive in all aspects of our lives. All you need to do is look at most companies out there and the rigorous screening processes they put a potential candidate through. It has become more personal than a nasty divorce with the nosing around and paying firms to dig up the slightest bit of dirt on you. Just imagine being the most qualified applicant for a job and having the job offered to you and then taken away just as quick, simply because you had a few too many at the last football game or alumni get together and got a little rowdy with the other teams fans and charged with a simple mutual battery charge and then release when you and the other knucklehead are in jail pondering what the hell just happened. Trust me folks, it happens. But we don’t now need to add an academic or conduct punishment or record of offense. This has gone WAY too far.

Is it just me, or will all of these alliances between the municipalities and colleges and universities take away from our budgets as citizens who pay the bills, salaries, etc? Won’t this hurt our personal protection because the real crime can’t be tended to since the police are wrapped up giving underage drinking citations with the campus “police” and enlisted, undercover agents of the university who report the parties and offenses? What about the educational budgets? Will this not just allow for immediate increases in tuition to cover these programs? The punishment deserves to be handled as we have it now, and even a good portion of our crimes that we target need to be assessed as a whole, but this is about a partnership between a service that we pay for in taxes and then pay for again in tuition and all the extra costs that come with it.

Lastly, it is NOT the responsibility of the educators, who one claims "We have a responsibility to educate our students about being responsible citizens." I’m sorry I must have heard you wrong. Did I just hear you tell me that I have failed in raising my child? Is it your responsibility to pay my son or daughters tuition? So if my son or daughter fails in life and becomes a criminal, I can then sue the university, college and municipalities as well as the Department of Education for damages and recovery of my monies? They would have failed and hence required to be disciplined for their actions. The entire system is flawed and this is just an example which drew the last straw for this taxpayer.

I am neither a democrat nor republican and I am not taking a political side here folks. But I felt the need to inform you of what is happening here and what will happen if we don’t act. This isn’t a “red or a blue” issue, but rather that of freedom, and that is exactly this is attacking, our freedoms.

Sorry to get off on a diatribe folks. Remember, I’m not a political person! I cannot wait for the election to be over and after two years of campaigns, I am convinced that we have absolute monkey’s running our country. Thanks for listening and boogie on!

Until Next Time…

Keith Wolsko
The Recruiters Roundtable

Universities try to control students off campus

2008-08-22T18:47:00.000-07:00

By DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP, Associated Press Writer

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080822/ap_on_re_us/student_conduct

SEATTLE - Ah, life in the university district. Cheap ethnic food. Vibrant street life. Fresh-faced students whizzing by on bicycles.

People who choose to live on the beautiful tree-lined streets surrounding the nation's institutions of higher learning often get a more vibrant experience than they expected — loud parties, rundown student boarding houses and trash generated by weekend melees.

A growing number of universities are starting to take a more proactive approach to monitoring off-campus behavior and neighbors say the efforts are working.

The University of Washington now enforces its campus behavior code off campus as well. A student doesn't need to be charged with a violent crime to activate the campus code at this Seattle University. Being cited for breaking the city's noise regulations is enough to score an invite to the student conduct office.

Architecture professor Earl Bell, who bought a house in the University Park neighborhood 40 years ago, says he has discovered that there's a fine line between convenient and too close.

"We've all got a kind of love-hate relationship with the University of Washington," said Bell, acknowledging that he and his neighbors have noticed a slight improvement lately.

The University of Colorado-Boulder and Penn State also are taking a broader view of offenses that can activate the campus discipline system. In Colorado, the code regulates any conduct that "affects the health, safety or security of any member of the university community or the mission of the university."

Since most college students live off campus, colleges that want to be on top of discipline need to extend their reach beyond their own real estate.

To some, this may sound like an overreaching of university authority; to others, it's a teachable moment.

"We have a responsibility to educate our students about being responsible citizens," said Elizabeth A. Higgins, Washington's director of community standards and student conduct, whose office has "educated" 19 students since the extended code of conduct took effect in January.

The legal ramifications of these policies are not entirely known, said Sheldon Steinbach, an attorney in Washington, D.C., who formerly worked for many years with the American Council on Education, representing school presidents from 1,800 colleges and universities.

"I fully anticipate a judicial challenges over time," Steinbach said.

Penn State's rules are similar to those at the University of Washington, but as university spokesman Bill Mahon points out, he has to first hear about a student behaving badly. Some local police departments work closely with campus authorities, passing along arrest information; others do not.

For example, if a Penn State student breaks the rules over the weekend in State College Borough, the university would probably hear about it on Monday morning, but the same violation in another town would go unnoticed.

"It's an imperfect system," Mahon said.

University of Washington police work with Seattle officers to patrol the area north of campus thick with off-campus housing including fraternities and sororities. Boston College goes further by sending a college official off campus to look for parties and students breaking the law.

An assistant dean of students at Seattle University does something similar via the Internet. A number of parties were shut down this past year after Glen Butterworth spied a page on Facebook publicizing the events. The private university has put its students on notice that cyber-patrolling will continue this year.

The University of Minnesota's campus code is more typical: It is only applied off campus during melees that happen around a campus event. Ohio State University applies its code off campus in cases of assault, drug dealing and major incidents that affect safety on campus.

In New Jersey, Rutgers University polices off-campus behavior only when campus officials have reasonable grounds to believe a student could be dangerous, said university spokeswoman Sandra Lanman. Typically, that means a pending criminal charge relating to a violent crime.

Some universities take their discipline policies a step further. At Duke University, the campus code requires students to report misbehavior by their fellow students to campus officials, no matter where the students find themselves.

In a rural setting, where a university can dominate the community, responsible behavior is much easier to enforce, said Elaine Voss, director of the office of student conduct at Washington State University in rural Pullman, Wash.

A 1998 riot along Greek row and Washington State's national reputation as a "party school" led the university to start taking a more proactive approach to curbing off-campus behavior.

The student code was revised to make the same rules apply to both on- and off-campus behavior. A staff member checks the local police log every day. Campus police forward their log to Higgins' office. Her staff does a lot of on- and off-campus education about alcohol abuse, personal safety and university expectations, including a three-day intensive freshman orientation.

"I think we've made huge strides in calming the place," Voss said.

(This version CORRECTS title of Steinbach to show he no longer works for American Council on Education.)

Initial Development is Done...Now What???

2008-08-22T15:57:00.000-07:00

So we’re finished with the initial blog development and overall site layout (phase I) and I am asking you what else you would like to see here on The Recruiters Roundtable? In that, I mean, what is going to make your visit here more enjoyable and make you more likely to come back to our site? We have designed the layout initially with a little something for everyone and now we want to take in feedback and see how we’ve done, what we can improve on, what you would like to see included, etc. As a brief rundown of what we’ve included on the site, here are some of the functionalities which we hope will help you, drive you back here and lastly, tell your friends.

Obviously daily blog entries from the staff and contributors.
Calendar…because we all forget what day it is sometimes!
Subscription feeds to daily blog posts and comments.
Links where you can find our other groups (i.e. LinkedIn, Yahoo Groups, Facebook, etc).
Search capabilities right from our site via Google Search.
Search and find people capabilities from our site via “People on The Web” application. You can identify people on a myriad of other social networking sites right from The Recruiters Roundtable.
Yahoo News feed for the top stories of the day, technology, business and the world. We have to keep up on current events!
Questions and Answers feed for HR, Recruiting and Staffing via LinkedIn Questions.
Interactive job search! Search jobs on the web via Snagajob.com!
Links to music, blogs and more!
Live industry streaming news feed via Google News.
Last but not least, Dilbert. Because we all need a good laugh at work!!!

Now that you’ve had a rundown of what you can do here, what do you like or dislike? What would you like to see on here? What will help you in visit The Recruiters Roundtable daily for your work and personal needs? Please remember, we are on a VERY limited budget and typically will utilize free applications in the beginning, so please be reasonable.

Would you like to contribute? We are seeking SME’s on a variety of topics and we hope that by adding these topics, we can take another step of accomplishing our goal of success in the site. If you are interested in taking on the responsibility of writing a daily column, weekly column, whatever, please contact Keith Wolsko directly at Keith.Wolsko@comcast.net and he will respond to you as soon as possible.

Lastly, we are toying with the option of featuring a company or companies each week. What are your thoughts on this? We will not simply be posting a link and a logo, but rather seeking interviews and input from the featured organization and its representatives. If you are a company that is interested in becoming a featured attraction to The Recruiters Roundtable, please contact Keith Wolsko directly at Keith.Wolsko@comcast.net

Thanks All and Until Next Time…

Keith Wolsko
The Recruiters Roundtable

Looking to Create Nothing BUT a Professional Web Resume? Then Try Emurse!

2008-08-21T18:14:00.001-07:00

I have been a member of Emurse.com for well over a year now and the results have been amazing! Not only can I create a resume to be published on the web, but I can also manage control of it, create a personal URL for my signature, search candidates and anything else you can think of.

Far too often, belonging to a social networking community becomes more damage than good, in that when recruiters are viewing our profiles they’re also viewing our connections and their profiles. By building an online presence with Emurse.com you are able to control who sees your resume, remain confidential, have a professional and downloadable copy of your resume in numerous formats, it’s all free! Yes there are membership options depending on how far you want to go. But let’s face it. Times are tough and why pay for yet another service or site. This is free, you have all the bells and whistles, are notified when someone views your resume and again, can create a personal URL for your signatures. Oh ya, did I mention it was FREE?!!!

Check it out at: www.emurse.com

View My Resume: http://keithwolsko.emurse.com/resume/

Until Next Time...

Keith Wolsko
The Recruiters Roundtable

Doom and Gloom from LinkedIn…Have You Updated Your Groups Yet???

2008-08-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

As most of us know already, LinkedIn Groups, in their (infinite wisdom), have decided to limit the number of “user Created Groups” one can belong at fifty (50). Now I don’t know about you, but at the time of receiving the courtesy letter from their “customer service” team, I was disgusted. This applies to EVERYONE!!! Whether you are a free member, fee-based member, or even a member of a corporate account, this applies to you! While I don’t agree with the new policy and I have spent such an insurmountable amount of time growing my LinkedIn network of professionals, I simply don’t have choice but to conform and leave 112 groups now and select a mere fifty to belong to.

In case you have not received the letter, or completely dismissed it, I have included a copy of mine for you to review below. Remember, this applies to EVERYBODY and the deadline has passed for the request of self-removal from groups. So take a few minutes and go through your groups so you do not lose valuable information or potentially harm professional relationships. The clock is counting!!!

“Customer Service Letter From LinkedIn”

Dear Keith,

As an active member of LinkedIn Groups, we wanted to let you know about some changes we're putting in place in the coming weeks.

We are in the process of adding new functionality to enhance the experience of Groups, including the recent release of a searchable directory. We are also working with our development teams to bring new tools and widgets to this collaborative space throughout the rest of 2008.

We are also at this time making some changes to the user-created groups we host. These changes include adding a limit to the number of user-created groups any LinkedIn member may be part of at one time. Currently we are setting that limit at membership in 50 (fifty) user-created groups.

You are currently a member of 162 groups. Please take the time before this limit goes into place on August 14, 2008, to choose which groups you would like to maintain. To remove yourself from a group, go to the My Groups page and click the word "Settings" next to the group you wish to leave. At the bottom of the settings page click the text "Leave this group."

We would appreciate it if you would please take this action within the next 10 days. If you would prefer, after 30 days we will automatically keep the first 50 groups that you joined and remove the rest.

If you would like assistance removing yourself from groups, or if you have any other questions, please contact us at http://linkedin.custhelp.com or groups@linkedin.com.

We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause you, but we hope you will continue to find value in LinkedIn and especially enjoy the new functionality of LinkedIn Groups that is coming soon.

Regards,
The LinkedIn team

Gray Hair Management - Helping the Senior Professional WIN the Job Race

2008-08-20T21:12:00.000-07:00

I would like to share an exciting and very purpose driven organization, Gray Hair Management, LLC.

They represent the senior professional who is finding it difficult to identify a new opportunity, write a resume or secure their next great opportunity. Gray Hair provides career counseling services and a variety of other candidate services. The staff is extremely knowledgeable, accessible and truly passionate about their work.

Additionally, Gray Hair Management has a corporate services division which is dedicated to matching employees and employers together. For more information on Gray Hair Management and all of their services, please visit their website today. http://www.grayhairmanagement.com/ or contact one of their staff today!

About Gray Hair Management:

Scott Kane founded Gray Hair Management® in 2000 with the mission to help senior managers and executives find new opportunities and employment. Originally, the company was just a networking group which was comprised of contacts Scott had met along the way in his job search. He began to catalog those people and in 2000, there were about 250 in his network. By the end of 2005, the network had grown to more than 5,200 active members.

In 2001, Scott partnered with Jack Heyden and began to revamp the Gray Hair Management model. Gray Hair Management currently provides professional coaching to managers and executives to help them win the race for a new opportunity using unique techniques and processes. In addition, the company sends over 1,500 monthly job leads and networking opportunities to the GHM network, and now has over 5,500 managers and executives in its worldwide database.

In 2005, Jack and Scott wrote and published a self-help book for the job seeker, “Winning the Job Race: Pathways Through Transition.” The book details all of the elements needed to learn how to run the job race, but to also win. The book is available on Amazon.com and on the Gray Hair Management web site in their store.

Until Next time...

Keith Wolsko
The Recruiters Roundtable

New OFCCP Directives...

2008-08-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

New OFCCP Directives...

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) passed two new directives to help support the equal opportunity for employment of veterans, disabled veterans and persons with disabilities: Good-Faith Initiative for Veterans Employment (G-FIVE) and the addition of a review of the Federal Contractor’s Online Application Selection System in compliance evaluations.

G-FIVE

The G-FIVE directive establishes a new government contractor rating that rewards government contractors that go above and beyond their obligation to hire and promote veterans and veterans with disabilities. This is the first time a rating has been put in place by the OFCCP to recognize and reward a government contractor’s efforts for employing veterans and veterans with disabilities. When a government contractor receives a G-FIVE rating, the OFCCP will publicly recognize them as a G-FIVE employer and grant the covered establishment a three-year moratorium on future OFCCP audits.

-In order to be considered for the G-FIVE rating, a government contractor must be able to show:

-Veterans in the contractor’s labor force as well as an increase of the number of veterans

-Partnerships with local veterans’ service organizations

-Use of state and/or local workforce agencies

-Documentation of job advertisements and career fairs targeting covered veterans

-Affirmative action steps taken to attract disabled veterans

-On-the-job training for covered veterans

The G-FIVE initiative can be downloaded from the OFCCP website at the following link: http://www.dol.gov/esa/ofccp/regs/compliance/directives/dir282.pdf

Federal Contractor’s Online Application Selection Systems

The second directive, Federal Contractor’s Online Application Selection Systems, is the OFCCP’s response to government contractors’ shift to online job application forms in order to comply with the OFCCP’s Internet Applicant rule.

The shift has helped track who expressed an interest in a job online; however, many of the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) vendors that supply the online job application forms do not provide equal access for persons with disabilities to express an interest in a job as required under section 503, VEVRAA and ADA regulations. As a result, the new directive now requires that all OFCCP compliance evaluations must include a review of the government contractor’s online application forms to determine if equal access is available to persons with disabilities and disabled veterans. If equal access is not available, the government contractor will need to show what reasonable accommodations have been made to ensure that disabled persons are able to apply.

The directive clearly outlines that the OFCCP will not hand over discrimination complaints involving the federal contractor’s online application system to the EEOC. Instead, the OFCCP will be required to investigate as required by the regulations.

In order to respond to the possible OFCCP complaints and to prepare for future compliance evaluations, all government contractors should be reviewing their online application forms to determine if equal access is provided for persons with disabilities and disabled veterans applying for jobs. If the online job application form does not provide equal access to persons with disabilities, the contractor should implement steps to provide reasonable accommodations until the online application form can be updated to offer equal access. If a contractor does not take these steps, the next compliance evaluation will include the OFCCP reviewing the online application selection system for such, and the OFCCP will determine if equal access is available to persons with disabilities. As a result, the OFCCP may determine that make-whole remedies are required for those that were adversely impacted, as well as require a change in the process to offer equal access for persons with disabilities and disabled veterans.

The new online applicant initiative can be downloaded from the OFCCP site at the following link: http://www.dol.gov/esa/ofccp/regs/compliance/directives/dir281.pdf

Congratulations To The RPO "Bakers Dozen"

2008-08-09T01:36:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to the following companies for their accomplishments of becoming one of the "Bakers Dozen." You can read the entire article on HRO Today.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/hro-today-magazine-survey-results/story.aspx?guid=%7B9D5839DE-96A2-484E-90FB-6FB7E3949D2D%7D&dist=hppr

The Bakers Dozen:

1  Right Thing Inc.
2  Spherion
3  People Scout
4  Alexander Mann Solutions
5  Kenexa
6  Talent2
7  Manpower Business Solutions
8  Kelly HR First
9  Pinstripe
10 FutureStep
11 Adecco
12 Select International
13 H.L. Yoh

Global Leaders:

Alexander Mann
Kenexa
Talent2
Manpower Bus. Solutions
Kelly HR First
FutureStep
Adecco
Project/On Demand Leaders
Accolo
BeeLine
Talent Fusion
TWC, COMSYS
The Workplace Group
CDI - PRO/Talent
Aon Consulting

We're Growing - Join Us On LinkedIn, Facebook & Yahoo...

2008-08-09T01:32:00.000-07:00

I would like to extend an invitation for you to join “The Recruiters Roundtable” on LinkedIn, Facebook and Yahoo Groups. As we are all utilizing a myriad of social networking communities, I encourage you to join the group on all three of the links below. This will allow you to connect with other professionals which you may not be connected with and access the group through variety of methods. Should you have any questions, please contact me directly and I will answer any questions that you may have.

This is a new group designed specifically for recruiters, human resources professionals, human capital professionals, hiring managers, job seekers, etc., to come together in an informal setting to discuss market trends, share methodologies, look for a job, post a job, network with fellow professionals and much more. The name itself is specifically chosen to get people involved, so what are you waiting for? Join us at the table!

Lastly, we are seeking contributors for the groups, so should you wish to contribute in any way, please let me know and don’t forget to tell your friends and colleagues. Hope to see you join soon!!!

To Join on LinkedIn:

http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/138984/3E9D2A5D3758

To Join on Facebook:

http://groups.to/therecruitersroundtable/

To Join on Yahoo Groups:

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/The_Recruiters_Roundtable/