The economic recover may be struggling a bit as it tries to gain traction, but it doesn’t seem to deter “job hoppers” like those profiled in this RedEye article, predominantly young people who have come to believe that transient, temporary jobs are the desired norm, and that the old paradigm of lifetime employment may be obsolete.  As Lindsey Pollak, author of “Getting from College to Career” puts it:

“The whole paradigm of how we work is completely changing. That old model of get one job out of college till you retire with a gold watch is completely, utterly gone.”

This new workforce — educated, highly mobile, not just accepting of transitional or temporary employment but sometimes even enthusiastic in their adoption of it — makes for a dynamic and vibrant new labor pool for hiring firms and staffing departments to take into consideration.

In the past three months, more people quit their jobs than were laid off…and it’s a good sign for the economy that it’s happening. As recruitment and jobs experts who spoke with The Christian Science Monitor pointed out…

In general, that’s a sign of better economic times,” says Donald Siegel, dean of the school of business at the University at Albany, part of the State University of New York. “I interpret it as a sign of an improving job market … when people feel confident enough to quit their jobs.

This article from the Tribune points out how Illinois’ budgetary problems are discouraging one of our most important economic resources from looking for their future here in their home state: college graduates seeking a future in education.

Young, educated workers are critical to keeping growth and progress on the march in any region. Just ask employers and analysts in other cities throughout the “Rust Belt” about what happens when opportunities disappear.  It’s certainly happened over previous decades in Illinois, in towns and cities outside Chicago, as changes have forced young people to go looking elsewhere for good jobs.   Losing smart, capable workers does lasting damage to any region’s ability to rebound or even be fundamentally competitive when times get better.

Education grads are especially important. It’s their passion and enthusiasm that helps to keep the spark alive for students.  But when thousands of education jobs are being cut because of shortfalls, damage is done to everybody’s future…damage that’s very hard to overcome.

Nobody said it’s easy to cope with the current situation from a governance standpoint.  So here’s hoping the legislature and executive branch in Springfield can act wisely in dealing with the state’s fiscal crisis.  They’ve got very hard choices to make, and the sooner we can all come to grips with the consequences, the sooner we can move forward.

Federal employment data for April shows a net gain of 290,000 jobs, a heartening increase.  Unemployment rose slightly, though that was attributed to more people leaving the sidelines and re-entering the market now that there’s been improvement:

“It’s fantastic news; 290,000 jobs is a lot of jobs,” said Chicago-based Morningstar Inc. economist Robert Johnson. “I think we’re on the road to recovery here, and I think we’ll probably see 200,000 to 300,000 job growth [each month] for most of the rest of the year. We clearly have turned the corner.”

231,000 of these jobs were from private employers, and it was the single largest one-month gain since March 2006.

Here’s a relevant survey by CareerBuilder.com that puts numbers to something that nearly anyone in recruitment and staffing has observed or themselves instituted: the practice of using the social networking aspects of the Web to evaluate potential hires.

What that means for those firms, for staffing consultants and for jobseekers is that there may very well be reasons not to hire an individual, reasons that have nothing to do with his or her resume or stated experience – and everything to do with what they post or reveal via the Internet.

Here are some of the reasons cited in the survey for not making a hire, based on what surveyed employers discovered by checking prospects’ profiles and posts on social media sites:

• Candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information – 53 percent
• Candidate posted content about them drinking or using drugs – 44 percent
• Candidate bad-mouthed their previous employer, co-workers or clients – 35 percent
• Candidate showed poor communication skills – 29 percent
• Candidate made discriminatory comments – 26 percent
• Candidate lied about qualifications – 24 percent
• Candidate shared confidential information from previous employer – 20 percent

What a prospect posts on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn or other sites is perfectly fair game for any staffing consultant or HR person who wants to make a comprehensive investigation of an applicant.

There’s also good advice here for jobseekers: the barrier between our “public” and “private” selves is pretty thin on the Web.  The offhand gripe about your last boss that you post today may very well come back to haunt you tomorrow.

Are employers and staffing firms properly positioned for an improvement in the job market? It can be a mixed blessing if you’re not prepared.

Just one of the complications is skills scarcity, as the most qualified and valuable prospective hires find their talents are in greater demand and go off the market. Whether you’re a staffing firm or an employer, you might find yourself really scrambling to fill positions with good, qualified people — if you haven’t been laying proper groundwork ahead of time.

There are a few simple questions any smart HR department or staffing firm should ask itself about its preparedness for a job market uptick of lasting duration:

1. Do we have a plan in place? Be certain you — and your team — have a strategy in hand to guide you in sourcing and recruiting the right prospects when the need arises. Remember, waiting until only the actual moment you need them most means you’ll have to make last-second choices – not advisable in any business situation.
2. Are we willing to scale up our staffing team? If there’s a sudden influx of job requisitions, possibly even a new slew of clients to handle if you’re a staffing firm, do you have the personnel on board it’ll take to maintain solid due diligence?
3. Are we willing to invest in staffing skills? You should always be looking to strengthen your hand; whether you’re an employer or a consultant, you should stay on top of the latest training and work resources available that can help your staffing team succeed.
4. Are we keeping the prospect file full? Even if you’re not in hiring mode, always be sure to stay abreast of what roles you might have to fill if the situation changes – and try to maintain outside staffing resources or a database of prospects that can give you a quick head start when you do need to put hires in place.
5. Are we jumping the gun in hiring full-timers? Temp and temp-to-hire personnel are probably still a wise option to keep in mind, unless you’re absolutely positive about your business prospects in the upcoming year.

Daniel Indiviglio at The Atlantic has been a proponent for some time of the idea that temp hiring is a good indicator for growth in the general economy, and now has a chart he’s discovered that helps prove his point. His capsule summary of what it shows (and very plainly, too — make sure you hit the link!) is, “as this chart demonstrates, temp jobs lead permanent job growth. It’s rare to see such a clear correlation between two variables.”

This is a graphical demonstration of the plain and simple predence and logic we see every day from our clients: in periods like this, qualified temps or temp-to-hire staffers are the safest bet, until any improvement really takes hold in time. Then those temporary positions turn into permanent hires.

The real concern comes in making sure the people you bring in, especially on a temp or transitional basis, have the skills and focus that let them jump right in, and seamlessly serve the client’s business. That’s obviously a sober and serious responsibility for staffing firms like North Bridge.

It’s another small step in the right direction, as up to 6,000 Illinois jobs may be created by the Federal monies going to the state to begin developing high-speed rail for the Chicago to St. Louis corridor.   This program will probably create secondary opportunities for Chicago-area businesses, as well, especially if plans move forward for a new high speed rail terminal in the city.  Let’s hope the funds will be spent wisely and efficiently, leading to permanent long-term growth for area businesses and employees.

“Big shoulders?”  You bet.  It ’s never been apparent how resolute and special Chicago is as an economic region than over the past two years.

A survey in Q4 2009 by Monster laid out a not entirely rosy prospectus for Chicago jobs in 2010, but signs for optimism still exist, not the least of which is the (relatively) upbeat attitude of Chicago recruitment professionals about prospects for the upcoming year.  Are people in our business professional optimists, or have they been through the worst of it for so long they’re desperate for a glimmer of hope?

We’d suggest neither. Chicago is an incredibly diverse and dynamic economy and community; we can thank our lucky stars for that, because we were truly insulated from a lot of the grief and pain that other regions have been through during this downturn.  Diversity is strength, in situations like this, and as experienced Chicago staffing experts ourselves, we know it’s our diversity that has kept us from the worst – and will pay dividends tomorrow.

The Monster report, among other analyses, have agreed that Chicago has fared relatively well in comparison to other cities; it’s been no joyride, but it goes without saying what a Detroit/Southeastern Michigan has suffered through, and the double whammy of overall recession and housing market catastrophes in Florida and Nevada are just two other examples of regions where opportunities have been in serious decline.

Maybe there is a little optimism at work in the attitudes displayed by Chicago recruiters in the Monster report – but it’s a well-founded optimism that’s backed up by the track record of an exceptional city.  Chicagoans, as usual, are demonstrating the diversity, flexibility, energy and grit to weather tough times.

The national unemployment picture is getting a little better, according to the Department of Labor, and as shown in this graphic at Fast Company.   While the heartland and east are still suffering (Pennsylvania is especially hard-hit), there’s reason to hope (see our earlier posts) that the situation may get better soon for people seeking jobs in Chicago.  But even while a recession endures, companies and shouldn’t entirely give up the hunt for talent, or at least for information on what talent is out there.  Why?

First, employees are everything – good staffers make or break your business, so you should always be on the lookout in case you need replacements, or need to hire new staff should business improve.  It’s important to have a good staffing partner or list of prospects on hand so you won’t lose valuable time playing “catch-up” when the need arises.

Recession is a leveler, too; your competitors are hurting if you’re hurting, and may have laid off good people who could help your firm, either now or when the economy permits hires.  So you can level the playing field versus your competition – or even take the high ground — by getting out in front on skilled prospects who fit your business, before they’re snapped up by other firms or called back by their previous employer.

Information is power.  Knowing what talent is available and knowing the costs of acquisition of that talent if times turn for the better are simply part of smart, long-term planning.  The more data you have on the talent pool, the more quickly and accurately you can act when the time comes.   It’s part of the contingency plans every company should lay out.

To paraphrase Daniel Burnham, make no little plans for your future; even if you’re cutting your staff right now, keep your eye on near-term or longer-term staffing needs, whether permanent, temp-to-hire or temporary.