Tip of the Month: How Social Media Helps Hiring in Heavy Supply Market

We hear a lot these days about the possibility of a “Double Dip” Recession.  The other big cloud hanging over our heads is “Jobless” Recovery.  After living through the past two crummy years what business isn’t wary of hiring, investing or being positive about the future.

You throw the unknown cost of Healthcare Reform and all the other tax increases coming down the pike and it’s no wonder we’re talking about Double Dips and Jobless Recoveries.

The staffing industry is positioned to be a bridge for those companies experiencing increasing volume but are not comfortable making permanent hiring commitments.  We are seeing this at Ryan Staffing as our own volume is approaching pre-recession levels.

Ok, by now I’m sure you’re asking yourself what exactly does all this have to do with job fairs?  It’s simple, despite the circumstances of the current economy, especially in Northeast Ohio, we are still experiencing challenges in finding quality personnel willing to accept un-skilled manufacturing positions.

How can this be you ask?  Unemployment is at double digits right?  While logic is on your side, reality may not be.

What we are finding is that those collecting unemployment (and all the extensions that go with it) are not willing to give it up for Temp jobs, particularly at pay rates under $9.00 to $10.00 dollars per hour.  Added to this problem are transportation issues for those that rely on public transportation.

You throw in the legitimate need for experienced personnel that can pass both drug and background checks and the un-skilled local labor poll becomes tight, especially with demand increasing.

We have found is that “help wanted ads” in newspapers and posting jobs with Government Services cannot be solely be relied on anymore.  Social media sources and job boards yield better results.

Conducting job fairs along with plant tours has become a key recruiting tool for us particularly at our clients that are defiantly off the bus line and in need of lots of help.

The on-site job fair allows applicants to learn first and foremost exactly where the jobs are physically located and what the travel requirements would be.  The tours display the actual job opening and the physical job skills need to be successful along with the actual work environment.

Conducting interviews and applicant processing on-site adds legitimacy to those seeking employment.  Our experience is that more and better applicants apply under these circumstances because they know the opening is real and that their application is not just being banked for future openings.

So, if your service is having trouble keeping up with the needs and you don’t want to compromise quality, consider the job fair approach.

Participate in Ryan Staffing's Hate/Love Contest and Win Cavs, Browns and Indians Tickets!

We all know that everyone is sick and tired of the LeBron James soap opera, right?

But like any good soap opera we’re still tuning in to see what happens next.

I know that a good many of you probably have little or no interest in the on-going saga of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

But I also know that we have a core group of clients and other followers of this newsletter that enjoy a night out watching a Cavs game and for this reason we plan to continue to give away Cavs tickets throughout the 2010 – 11 season.

As a kid, I’ll admit I had a bit of the devil in me. I won’t go into my list of “pranks” here but I have put some creative thinking into how we can make LBJ’s return shall we say memorable.

So, this month we’re going to give away a pair of tickets to the first Cavs vs. Heat match up of the coming season. To be eligible all you have to do is help me out by participating in the “stick it to LeBron” survey. Of course your comments or ideas are welcome as well.

While we are in this “teams we love to hate” mood, we’ll throw in two additional runner-up prizes that include a pair of tickets to the July 29th Indians game against the Yankees and the Jan 2, 2011 Browns/Steelers match-up in Cleveland.

Tim's Talking about Health Care Reform; Maternity Leave and W-2s...

It’s Coming!

Health Care Reform is marching forward and its impact will start to be felt sooner (as early as September 23, 2010) rather than later. From what we know for sure, the following are applicable to all plans:

• Raise dependent age to 26
• Ban on lifetime limits (dollar value)
• Restrictions on annual limits
• Elimination of pre-existing condition exclusion for those younger than 19
• Ban on coverage rescission
• This list applies to “Grandfathered” plans as well.

Fixing W-2s Got Easier

Did you know that you can fix your employees’ W-2s online?

Visit www.socialsecurity.gov/employer and learn how you can complete up to five forms W-2c on the computer, submit them and print copies for your employees and your records.


More Bulletin Board Material

Just when you thought there could not possibly be anything more to post on your wall, President Obama signed executive order 13496 that took effect June 21, 2010.

What’s 13496 you say? . . . It requires certain federal contractors and subcontractors to post detailed notices informing employees of their rights under the NLRA about collective bargaining and joining/forming unions.


Minimum Length of Service Ruled ‘Ok’ for Maternity Leave

By a 5 – 1 vote the Ohio Supreme Court said that a company can impose a minimum length of service requirement before any employee is eligible for leave. This does not violate anti-discrimination laws in Ohio according to the court.

Imagine the logic used . . . pregnant women must be treated the same as non pregnant women.