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.
-------------------------
Date Not Seasonally
Adjusted
-------------------------
Jul-08 100
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Aug-08 97
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Sep-08 99
-------------------------
Oct-08 107
-------------------------
Nov-08 94
-------------------------
Dec-08 81
-------------------------
Jan-09 75
-------------------------
Feb-09 67
-------------------------
Mar-09 71
-------------------------
Apr-09 70
-------------------------
May-09 65
-------------------------
Jun-09 68
-------------------------
Jul-09 73
-------------------------
Aug-09 70
-------------------------
Sep-09 78
-------------------------
Oct-09 78
-------------------------
Nov-09 77
-------------------------
Dec-09 74
-------------------------
Jan-10 69
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Feb-10 71
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Mar-10 82
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Apr-10 79
-------------------------
May-10 78
-------------------------
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
_____________
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
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Recruitment & Social Media
The world is a buzz with social media sites as an emerging alternatives to the big job boards.
For example, LinkedIn has over 40 million users. LinkedIn is rapidly becoming an employment networking site more than anything else. I personally have over 3,770,500 total Linkedin users that I can contact through an introduction. That's powerful stuff! There may come a day soon when a LinkedIn profile will replace traditional resumes.
The immensely popular social networking site Facebook has over 200 million users and can be used in a low key medium for job seekers and job postings. Employers and recruiters should know their Facebook etiquette before they risk their brand by unintentionally offending hardcore Facebook users. Advertising on Facebook is a cost effective recruitment tool with a CPC (Cost per Click) billing model. Its also a great place to set up a free corporate profile with some built in Web 2.0 features. Facebook users are a committed community so it only makes sense for recruiters to get into the network rather than constantly attempting to lure job seekers to other platforms.
Twitter and the Blogsphere are also fabulous platforms for corporate marketing and job broadcasting. Twitter still has a long way to go to catch up with Facebook in terms of user volume but just wait and see how Twitter explodes in the following weeks as it becomes a primary communication source for FIFA World Cup soccer.
While most job boards and good corporate websites have features that allow job seekers to set up a profile and receive job notices, twitter helps bridge the gap between web sites, email, smart phones and text messaging. HR departments will soon be Tweeting every new openings to meet the needs of the growing Twitter community.
An interesting online recruitment development is emerging within the buy/sell Internet sites like Craigslist and 
Kijiji. These sites offer low tech, high traffic, free employment advertising sections. GenNext job seekers lean toward Indy-bands, Indy-movies and so it follows that they also tend toward the grassroots job marketplace rather than the big corporate job board space.
New media and social networking sites are not yet structured to interface and systematically broadcast every job postings from a corporate website. They all require some form of individual intervention. But, most large job boards are figuring out how to integrate their services with these popular new media formats.
The People Bank is always trying to say ahead of the recruitment advertising curve. Our jobs already appear on hundreds of Internet job boards but it won’t be long before all of our jobs are also rebroadcast to targeted audiences through Twitter, Kijiji, Facebook and Craigslist. We call our strategy "A Thousand Pathways". We take the view that all job boards, new media, traditional media, social networks and Buy & Sell sites should lead the way back to www.thepeoplebank.com
For example, LinkedIn has over 40 million users. LinkedIn is rapidly becoming an employment networking site more than anything else. I personally have over 3,770,500 total Linkedin users that I can contact through an introduction. That's powerful stuff! There may come a day soon when a LinkedIn profile will replace traditional resumes.
The immensely popular social networking site Facebook has over 200 million users and can be used in a low key medium for job seekers and job postings. Employers and recruiters should know their Facebook etiquette before they risk their brand by unintentionally offending hardcore Facebook users. Advertising on Facebook is a cost effective recruitment tool with a CPC (Cost per Click) billing model. Its also a great place to set up a free corporate profile with some built in Web 2.0 features. Facebook users are a committed community so it only makes sense for recruiters to get into the network rather than constantly attempting to lure job seekers to other platforms. 
Twitter and the Blogsphere are also fabulous platforms for corporate marketing and job broadcasting. Twitter still has a long way to go to catch up with Facebook in terms of user volume but just wait and see how Twitter explodes in the following weeks as it becomes a primary communication source for FIFA World Cup soccer. While most job boards and good corporate websites have features that allow job seekers to set up a profile and receive job notices, twitter helps bridge the gap between web sites, email, smart phones and text messaging. HR departments will soon be Tweeting every new openings to meet the needs of the growing Twitter community.
An interesting online recruitment development is emerging within the buy/sell Internet sites like Craigslist and 
Kijiji. These sites offer low tech, high traffic, free employment advertising sections. GenNext job seekers lean toward Indy-bands, Indy-movies and so it follows that they also tend toward the grassroots job marketplace rather than the big corporate job board space.New media and social networking sites are not yet structured to interface and systematically broadcast every job postings from a corporate website. They all require some form of individual intervention. But, most large job boards are figuring out how to integrate their services with these popular new media formats.
The People Bank is always trying to say ahead of the recruitment advertising curve. Our jobs already appear on hundreds of Internet job boards but it won’t be long before all of our jobs are also rebroadcast to targeted audiences through Twitter, Kijiji, Facebook and Craigslist. We call our strategy "A Thousand Pathways". We take the view that all job boards, new media, traditional media, social networks and Buy & Sell sites should lead the way back to www.thepeoplebank.com
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
April Indicates a Slight Correction in the Recovering Economy
ACSESS Staffing Index Continues to Show a Steady Recovery
MISSISSAUGA, ON, June 2 /CNW/ - The April 2010 Canadian Staffing Index was released this week by the Association of Canadian Search, Employment & Staffing Services (ACSESS).
The April report shows a slight decrease in temporary and contract hours of 3 points compared to March 2010. The Index also illustrates a healthy 14 point (21.5%) gain since the industry low in May of 2009.
An Index value of 79 means that hours of labour supplied by the Canadian staffing industry during the month of April remained 21% below the 100 Benchmark of July 2008 and 28 points below the industry high reported for October 2008. The Index continues to show a slow but persistent recovery but it also reflects the dynamic nature of the temporary and contract staffing industry and the sensitivity of the recovering Canadian employment market.
"The dramatic 10 point jump reported by the Canadian Staffing Index in the previous month of March 2010 accurately predicted the large employment gain that was subsequently released by Statistics Canada for the month of April." says Steve Jones, President of ACSESS, "This slight decline in April reflects the industry's normal seasonal decline of April and May and may also reflect a minor correction for the extraordinary gain reported in the prior month. Our members continue to report strong year over year growth including a healthy transition of temporary workers to full-time employment."
Each monthly release of the ACSESS Canadian Staffing Index clearly answers the question, "How's business?" Temporary and contract employment hours are coincidental with real-time economic activity and ACSESS believes the Staffing Index serves as a valuable leading indicator for economists, journalists, analysts and policy makers who are interested in 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.
Canadian Staffing
Index Not Seasonally Adjusted
-----------
Jul-08 ---- 100
Aug-08 ---- 97
Sep-08 ---- 99
Oct-08 ---- 107
Nov-08 ---- 94
Dec-08 ---- 81
Jan-09 ---- 75
Feb-09 ---- 67
Mar-09 ---- 71
Apr-09 ---- 70
May-09 ---- 65
Jun-09 ---- 68
Jul-09 ---- 73
Aug-09 ---- 70
Sep-09 ---- 78
Oct-09 ---- 78
Nov-09 ---- 77
Dec-09 ---- 74
Jan-10 ---- 69
Feb-10 ---- 71
Mar-10 ---- 82
Apr-10 ---- 79
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: 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
For further information: Media Contact: Suzanne McInerney, CPC, Communications and Marketing Specialist, Phone (905) 826-6869, Toll Free: 1-888-232-4962, Email: smcinerney@acsess.org
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