Articles and Presentations
Distribution Center Management - January 2004
Recovering Economy Should Refocus Recruiting Efforts
A rebounding economy may be good for business, but it can renew old challenges in staffing requirements. What will the new year hold for the labor market?
"In the fourth quarter, there has been an increase in domestic manufacturing but hiring hasn't continued to increase at the same speed," says Donald Jacobson, President of LogiPros LLC, a logistics personnel recruiting firm with offices in Lincoln Park, NJ and Longwood, Fla. "That's due to increased productivity improvements and the fact that companies have not absorbed the excess capacity."
Many third-party logistics providers are seeing more requests for proposals and an increase in startups. "Because of that, we anticipate a shortage of good operation people as these companies scramble to open new facilities," says Jacobson. The poor economy in recent years has created an extremely lean workforce that is overworked and will not be able to handle the current growth. "When there are increases in business it usually means that you need to start hiring," he says.
Jacobson notes a positive sigh in that he saw more activity in requests for people during November and December than he has for the past two years.
Because of the high unemployment rates and the employer's market, companies have been relying a great deal on internal referrals, networking and Internet postings to satisfy their needs. These companies are going to need to expand their recruitment efforts or they will be overwhelmed, says Jacobson. The companies that will succeed are those that use a combination of processes, he says, including using internal postings, promotions, Internet recruiting, and a strong experienced, specialized recruiter.
Getting the right people into a job running, without a long orientation period, will be critical to the success of an organization, adds Jacobson. Companies don't have time for the training and the handholding, he says. A few hiring tips he recommends: Have a good job description, be specific in your needs, and make sure that people doing the interview know how to interview.
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