Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics The economy grew 3.5% in the last quarter, signaling a definite end to the recession and the start of a recovery. That’s great news, but look closer and it doesn’t seem that there’s much to celebrate yet. Six-tenths of a percent came from spending by the federal government and another 2.2%... [full article »]

I recently wrote about the need to directly stimulate job creation by giving employers incentives to hire workers. I’m glad to say that the government is taking the advice seriously. [full article »]

It’s not often that the government of the United States has anything to learn from the government of Singapore, but when it comes to job creation the city has something to offer. The Jobs Credit initiative provides cash grants to employers on a certain percentage of monthly wages per employee. The result: unemployment remains among... [full article »]

The hot stuff in HR technology these days is all to do with social networking. Recruiters are flocking to social media with the energy of a bull let loose in a pasture full of lonely cows during mating season. All that effort does produce some results — candidates (or calves; depending on what you’re thinking... [full article »]

… and nobody follows him, then was it written? Any discussion around Twitter raises a lot of questions from the sublime to ridiculous. And so it should be: Twitter is an interesting product, and there aren’t a lot of those in recruiting. My last article on social networking criticized Twitter, so I’ll start this one... [full article »]

Like prospectors during the gold rush, recruiters everywhere are flocking to social networks in search of hires. But like the experience of many during the gold rush, getting results in not easy. Reaping the benefits of social networking requires engaging with those networks. There’s plenty being written about how to do so, but to... [full article »]

The Human Resources Commissioner for Chicago recently resigned. He had been originally hired to implement a hiring system free of politics. Apparently, the Commissioner had made some employment decisions that were influenced by politics, and then lied to the Chicago Inspector General about them. This was a great loss, given how high a priority the... [full article »]

With unemployment now reaching 9.5% and on track to hit 10% in the next few months, recruiters should consider their career options for the near term. Unemployment is a lagging indicator, so it may well be that things are getting better. There are glimmers of hope that may suggest the worst is over — The... [full article »]

Social networking is hot; at a recent event over 300 recruiters showed up to hear the experience of a company best known for making urinal cakes. It’s not easy to do — getting hires through social networking, that is (I can’t comment about the cakes). Some of the challenges were discussed in a previous article, but... [full article »]

Social networking is all the rage in recruiting these days. Hearing or reading about some of the claims being made — that soon sourcing will become extinct as social networks begin to interact, for example, or that we are close to finding the “ultimate solution” as some would have us believe — one could be... [full article »]

The recession we’re in will have long-run consequences for employment and consequently recruiting. The world is about to see the biggest increase in unemployment in decades. The World Bank and the IMF predict that global trade will contract at the fastest rate since 1930 and global economic output will drop for the first time since... [full article »]

The recently passed “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,” aka the stimulus bill, includes a provision that restricts companies receiving federal bailout funds from hiring immigrant workers on H-1B visas. This provision was added by senators Charles Grassley, from Iowa, and Bernie Sanders, from Vermont. Considering that engineers, scientists, and immigrants with advanced degrees... [full article »]

Many employers are eager to tap the potential of social networks as sources of talent. The potential is huge, and facing difficult economic conditions, these can be a cheap source. But it’s easier said than done. Some employers have put up their own corporate pages on Facebook. But this accomplishes nothing more than to prove... [full article »]

Sun-Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher who authored The Art of War, had a saying, “Sacrifice the plum tree to preserve the peach tree.” It means that there are circumstances in which one must sacrifice short-term objectives in order to gain the long-term goal. He was writing about military strategy in the seventh century B.C., but... [full article »]

In 1605 Joseph Jacobs wrote a story titled Dick Whittington’s Cat, about a boy who’s told about the great city of London where the streets are paved with gold. Eagerly he sets out, only to find that while London has a lot of opportunity, it isn’t quite the promised land he was told it was... [full article »]

I just returned from the Future of Talent conference put on by Kevin Wheeler. This is a truly exceptional experience for those lucky enough to attend. The quality of content and discussions would be hard to duplicate. Having heard and talked about where talent management might be in the foreseeable future, it was logical to... [full article »]

The Australian Parliament recently eased immigration laws with a goal of attracting more high-skilled labor. This was in recognition of the fact that given past and future decreasing birth rates coupled with increasing demand for skills will make skilled labor the quintessential scarce resource for the next fifty years. In this hemisphere Congress wisely spent... [full article »]

For most recruiters the make or break moment comes at the end of the process, when it’s time to negotiate the offer. A successful negotiation means that the process concludes with a hire, and the recruiter rides off into the sunset. But a successful negotiation doesn’t mean coming out on top with a low-ball offer that... [full article »]

There is a major shortage of talent. Critically needed foreign workers cannot make their way here because temporary work visas are snapped up on the first day they become available. If you were thinking this is about high-tech workers, you would be wrong. This is about fashion models. What few people know (and maybe even fewer... [full article »]

On the last day of the ERE Spring Expo, over drinks in the Sheraton San Diego lobby, someone mentioned that we’re a few years away from a time when everyone will have access to all the candidates who exist. This is not a stretch by any means. Subscriptions to the major boards and sites like Zoom... [full article »]