Improving Environment?

Great question - I think we're still in a hazy period with regard to sustained improvement. We have clearly seen that companies have begun to look at their staffing plans for the rest of 2009 and into 2010. Senior executives are also interested in moving away from the status quo with regard to receiving candidates. In other words, they are looking for ways to improve the matching performance. How do they do that? Well, the easiest way is to put more effort into the cultural side of hiring. Senior level folks are beginning to recognize the amount of money spent on hiring and in some cases (especially now), the cost of not hiring. We continue to recommend temp - to - perm scenarios on both the candidate and client side. It is an appropriate way to "kick the tires" for both, while understanding that there are some shorter term gains that can be accomplished.

So, is the environment improving? Yes and no. We don't see improvement across an entire vertical, but rather company specific improvements. Firms that have plans to increase technology spending have begun to look for additional human capital. Other companies are still hunkered down and willing to work with what they have. Obviously, this can't continue. Over the longer haul (next 6 months) we should see a gradual increase in overall hiring. Unfortunately, i think we'll see the bulk of that either in October/early November, and then again in later January. The job market will be hard pressed to overcome the holiday season this year. Typically, there just isn't a ton of activtity in the holiday season.