News and Features
DoubleStar’s regional Hiring Trends Survey offers hope for job market recovery in 2010
After months of job losses and employment market stagnation, there is finally some reason for optimism in the data contained in DoubleStar’s Mid-Atlantic Hiring Trends Survey.
- First, headcount reductions at area employers continued to slow in Q4 2009. Headcount reductions, reported at 37% of companies in Q2, were reported at only 16% in Q3.The DoubleStar survey results, published Nov. 5, presaged the November national unemployment report that showed only 11,000 job losses for the month as compared with 130,000 in October.
- Second, more companies reported an intent to increase hiring as they moved into Q4: 27% of employers reported plans to increase hiring, up from 21% in Q3.
- Finally, the pace of reductions in recruiting staffs and budgets slowed at the end of the year. Even more positive, 11% of employers actually increased recruiting staff size in Q4, up significantly from 2% in Q3. This shows that at least in some industries, companies are gearing up for an increase in hiring activity moving forward.
“These are the most positive indicators we’ve seen all year,” noted Harry Griendling, Founder and CEO of DoubleStar. “And, they offer the first signs that maybe the job market in our region is beginning the slow process of recovering.”
The survey, conducted quarterly by DoubleStar, surveys Human Resources decision-makers at leading organizations in the Mid-Atlantic area. It focuses on quarter-over-quarter changes in employment, hiring, headcount and recruiting budget levels and provides clear trends data about the general condition of the regional labor market for professionals.
Griendling adds that any optimism derived from this data should be guarded. “While there are positive signals in last quarter’s data, the survey still shows a market that remains fairly stagnant. The good news is that a stagnant market is an improvement from a shrinking market, and could indicate that we are seeing a bottoming of the labor market contraction.”
Griendling says that employment market improvements may already be starting, but the impacts of that improvement won’t be felt until the survey shows positive signs sustained over two or three consecutive quarters.
Other findings from the survey include:
- Overall, more employers are planned slight increases in recruiting and hiring activity in Q4, 2009. This is the first positive movement in hiring plans all year.
- Hiring remains weak in the Mid-Atlantic Region.
- Corporate recruiting functions shrunk throughout 2009, but the pace of that reduction slowed in Q4.
- Recruitment budgets remain relatively stagnant, with 83% of companies making no changes their recruiting spend in Q4.
- 16% of companies reported a reduction in headcount in Q3 2009, down significantly from 37% in Q2.
- Fewer companies are citing attrition, layoffs, and decreases in business as the driver of headcount change. More companies are reporting increases in business, merger and acquisitions, and restructuring as their key drivers.
The complete Survey Results can be accessed at www.doublestarinc.com
