Society for Human Resource Management: signs of life in hiring

A study of eight major American industries is suggesting that 42 percent of companies surveyed are reporting some type of recovery, according to a survey released by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

That also is holding true in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“Everyone is still being very cautious,” said Mark Malone, regional vice president of staffing firm Robert Half International. “We are seeing signs of growth in the business that we’re in.”

Malone said more companies are asking firms like Robert Half to provide them with temporary employees, and in many cases, when possible, companies are transitioning those employees to full-time staffers.

According to the SHRM survey, 41 percent of the companies interviewed said they are making direct hires to replace jobs lost during the recession and 12 percent are adding new duties to jobs lost during the recession once they come back.

The SHRM surveyed companies in eight key industries, including construction, government, finance, health care, manufacturing, professional services and technology.

In Dallas-Fort Worth, Malone said “health care is very strong” in terms of hiring. In addition, he said the North Texas area is slowly starting to see signs of life in construction and manufacturing.

But looking forward, the good news doesn’t necessarily mean the rest of the year will feature sunny days on the job front.

“The rest of the year is going to remain very competitive from a hiring standpoint,” Malone said. “The good thing about D-FW is that we didn’t get hit as hard as some of the other markets.” He added, “We are seeing signs of life, and that’s good.”

Source: Business Chronicle