ACSESS Staffing Index

Although the Canadian Staffing industry Index is up 19 points over this time last year, industry leaders are looking for explanations for the fact that there was a single point drop in the index last month. They know that business is up so why is the index pointing (slightly) down?

The Canadian Staffing Index is the best data that this country has ever collected on temporary help hours but it is far from perfect. No data is perfect. I have been watching writing and providing editorial on the Statistics Canada monthly Employment data for years and it has some serious flaws too. I put a lot more credibility into the Canadian Staffing Index than I do Stats Can numbers but I also have enough industry insight that I can read between the Staffing Industry numbers

Here are a few insights.

1. The Canadian Staffing Index counts hours of work within a month and it is not adjusted for days of work within the month. April had 22 billable work days minus Good Friday while May only had 21 days minus Victoria Day. That is a 5 percent reduction in the number of days available to work! So when the May Index reports a meager decline in hours worked by only 1%... business activity is really up.

2. Some Staffing companies bill by the week and report their numbers according to their accounting or billing cycles which may have nothing to do with the number of work days within a month. For example, my company will produce 5 sets of weekly invoices during the month of June. This means that my company's number will jump by 25% in June then settle back down again in July. This will happen during 4 months of the year producing an hours growth anomaly.

3. Flat is the new up! A huge portion of temporary help temp to perm transitional work. When the Staffing industry remains flat that means that thousands of workers have transitioned to full time work and new tempo assignments were created and filled. When the temp industry is flat, that means that new jobs are being created.

Here is a copy of the Press release.

May Shows Steady Economic Improvement
ACSESS Staffing Index Indicates a Cautious Recovery


MISSISSAUGA, ON, June 17 /CNW/ - The May 2010 Canadian Staffing Index was released this week by the Association of Canadian Search, Employment & Staffing Services (ACSESS).

The May report shows a slight decrease in temporary and contract hours of 1 point compared to April 2010. The Index also illustrates a healthy 13 point gain as reported in May 2009.

An Index value of 78 indicates the hours of labour supplied by the Canadian Staffing industry during the month of May remained 20% below the 100 Benchmark of July 2008 and 29 points below the industry high reported in October 2008. The Index continues to show a steady recovery but it also reflects the nuances of the temporary and contract staffing industry and the sensitivity of the recovering Canadian economy.

"The validity of the data collected by the ACSESS Canadian Staffing Index is consistent with real time information," says Steve Jones, President of ACSESS. This slight decline in May reflects normal seasonal declines based on college and university students flooding the employment marketplace and being hired into positions staffed by staffing firms during the balance of the year. Jones predicts that based on the data collected, Statistics Canada will report a moderate job increase for June in its upcoming Employment Report to be released at the beginning of July.

Each monthly release of the ACSESS Canadian Staffing Index clearly answers the question, "How's business?" Temporary and contract hours are coincidental with real time economic activity and ACSESS believes serves an excellent indicator for journalists, economists and analysts who are focused on current staffing and employment trends.


About the Canadian Staffing Index:


Hours of labour data is collected by Staffing Industry Analysts, an independent company specializing in the staffing industry. The source data is provided by a representative number of Canadian staffing companies providing services in almost every industry across the country.

The data is collected on a monthly basis, with the initial data capture dating back to July 2008, providing real historical insight into the Canadian staffing landscape.


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Date Not Seasonally
Adjusted
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Jul-08 100
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Aug-08 97
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Sep-08 99
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Oct-08 107
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Nov-08 94
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Dec-08 81
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Jan-09 75
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Feb-09 67
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Mar-09 71
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Apr-09 70
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May-09 65
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Jun-09 68
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Jul-09 73
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Aug-09 70
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Sep-09 78
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Oct-09 78
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Nov-09 77
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Dec-09 74
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Jan-10 69
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Feb-10 71
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Mar-10 82
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Apr-10 79
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May-10 78
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About ACSESS


ACSESS is the single voice for promoting best practices and ethical standards for the recruitment, employment and staffing services industry in Canada. For more information visit: (less than)http://www.acsess.org/(greater than) www.acsess.org


About Staffing Industry Analysts


Staffing Industry Analysts is the premier research and analysis firm covering temporary employment and the contingent workforce. Known for its independent and objective insights, the company's proprietary research, data, support tools, publications and executive conferences provide a competitive edge to decision-makers who supply and buy temporary staffing. In addition to temporary staffing, Staffing Industry Analysts also covers these related staffing sectors: third party placement, and staff leasing (PEOs). Founded in 1989, the company is headquartered in Los Altos, California. For more information visit: www.staffingindustry.com


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Steve Jones is the Volunteer President of ACSESS and President of Aimco, Allen, Professional Search, La Banque de Personnel, The Medical Recruitment Network and The People Bank, all divisions of Design Group Staffing Inc. www.thepeoplebank.com

Canadian Staffing Index: A Leading Indicator of Economic Recovery

The Canadian employment rate is heading in the right direction and temporary staffing is leading the way!

Last week, the Association of Canadian Search, Employment and Staffing Services (ACSESS), in conjunction with independent research firm Staffing Industry Analysts, released a new groundbreaking monthly index that tracks temporary employment across Canada. The Canadian Staffing Index reported consistent job growth for several months as far back as May 2009. Statistics Canada then followed with the news that 25,000 Canadian jobs were created during the month of February 2010.

It’s a well known fact that Statistics Canada’s job creation numbers are a lagging indicator of the economy, however, it is believed that the new Canadian Staffing Index, which measures temporary help hours, will provide a real-time barometer of employment activity and a reliable leading indicator of near-future full-time job creation.

The March 12, 2010, the Labour Force Survey produced by Statistics Canada says that “employment has been on an upward trend since July 2009 (+159,000 jobs),” and that “this contrasts with the sharp drop of 417,000 between the peak in October 2008 and July 2009.”
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/subjects-sujets/labour-travail/lfs-epa/lfs-epa-eng.pdf)

In comparison, the Canadian Staffing Index shows that temporary employment hours were on an upward trend three months ahead of the more traditional Labour Force and Unemployment data.(http://www.acsess.org/NEWS/IndustryPress-Feb8-2010.asp)

It’s interesting to note that the lagging Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey and the current Canadian Staffing Index both confirm that employment peaked in October of 2008. Had the Staffing Index been in place at that time, the decline in temporary personnel hours may have provided an ominous foreboding of the devastating job losses that ultimately followed. It only makes sense considering that temporary workers are typically the first to be cut back in slow periods and the first to return in a recovery.

Temporary staffing is primarily used by business managers to hedge against the uncertainties and fluctuations in the economy. Other research data shows that temporary employment will often transition to regular full-time employment when the work requirements become more consistent and predictable.

The Canadian Staffing Industry Index is a reliable tool for business managers, economists and governments in their development of policy and decision making. The names of the actual survey participants and the individual companies’ data is kept confidential, administered by an independent research firm, Staffing Industry Analysts, but we know that no other survey of its type with such an extraordinarily high percentage of the total market share has ever been collected or reported on in Canada.

All of our companies within Design Group Staffing Inc., including The People Bank, Placement Group, Design Group Technical Staffing, Allen Professional Search, INTEQNA, Aimco Industrial Staffing, The Medical Recruitment Network and La Banque de Personnel participate in the submission of confidential and timely data. When our data is combined with the other respondents’ data, the survey provides trends and hours worked by over 30,000 employees. Now that’s a sample size to be reckoned with!

We will continue to deliver future Canadian Staffing Index results through future editions of the Staffing Insider. The way things are going, we predict that the next Canadian Staffing Index will verify that there is more job growth in the current month. That’s because we are busy…so you will be, too.

This article was written by Steve Jones and published during the week of March 15, 2010 in the Staffing Insider, a regular email broadcast produced by The People Bank, Aimco, Allen Professional Search, La Banque de Personnel and the Medical Recruitment Network.

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