"Good People - Good Jobs"©

ASA Staffing Index Monthly Report

Staffing employment in April is up 6.9% from April 2011, according to the ASA Staffing Index.

The index value for April is 91, up two points from the 89 reported for March. Since the beginning of 2012, temporary and contract employment has grown 22.0%, according to the index.

Temporary Employment Hirirng is Improving

The American Staffing Association's weekly Staffing Index of temporary and contract employment increased to a year-to-date high of 90 for the week ending April 1, nearly 6% above the year-ago level and 0.74% above the previous week. This was the highest week 14 reading since 2008, and just a bit below the 91 index level for the comparable week in 2007. The upward trend in the ASA Staffing Index this year and the upward trend in temporary employment for the last two years suggest that conditions in the labor market will continue to improve.

EGW HR Manager Double Award Winner!

(Buffalo, NY. March 28, 2012)-   Kathleen Pascucci, HR Manager/Safety Specialist at EGW Personnel Staffing has been named the 2012 Emerging HR Professional and has received the President’s Award on behalf of the Buffalo Niagara Human Resource Association (BNHRA).

 

Kathleen was recognized during BNHRA’s awards event held on March 22, 2012 at the Statler City for her emerging talent and passion for human resources and her continued devotion and drive to helping BNHRA achieve their mission of advancing the HR profession and serving the HR professional.

 

EGW also received a nomination for HR Partner of the Year for their dedication and continued commitment to their clients by providing strategic hiring and employment solutions since 1969.

 

Over 360 local professionals attended this event which celebrates the successes in the Human Resources industry by recognizing HR professionals and organizations who exemplify outstanding performance and achievement within the WNY Community.

Good News

Economists expect the U.S. to add an average of 170,000 jobs a month in 2012 with stronger job growth in 2013, according to the National Association for Business Economics’ new outlook survey of 45 professional forecasters.

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EGW Personnel Staffing recognizes PHR achievement

EGW Personnel Staffing acknowledges Kathleen Pascucci, Corporate HR Manager/ Safety Specialist, who has successfully achieved the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI).

HRCI is the international licensing body for the Human Resource profession and the only credentialing certification recognized by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the world’s largest HR association.

Individuals who achieve HRCI certification must demonstrate their proficiency in HR competencies, including: Business Management and Strategy, Workforce Planning and Employment, HR Development, Compensation/Benefits, Employee and Labor Relations, and Risk Management.

By earning this PHR designation, Kathleen joins a select group of distinguished HR professionals who have demonstrated their understanding and application of the HR body of knowledge in their organizations. Kathleen also serves on the board for the local SHRM chapter and also partners with the DOL on their program initiatives offered to local employers. EGW looks forward to offering this knowledge to our internal staff and meeting the diverse needs of our clients.

Jobs Up Over Month, Flat Over Year

Staffing employment rose by 0.8 percent in December from November but was unchanged compared to December 2010, according to the American Staffing Association’s staffing index released Wednesday.

The index for December stands at 93, up from 92 in November.

Staffing employment has been modestly edging up since February with the exception of a typical dip during the July 4 holiday period, according to the ASA.

Staffing Employment Shows Steady Growth in Third Quarter

Staffing employment increased 2.4% from the second to the third quarter of this year, according to data released today by the American Staffing Association.

U.S. staffing firms employed an average of 2.82 million temporary and contract workers per day from July through September—5.2% more workers than in the third quarter of 2010. This is the seventh consecutive quarter of year-to-year staffing employment growth since the industry began its recovery from the 2007–09 recession.
"The increase in staffing employment in the third quarter is a positive indicator that the economy is still in an expansion mode," says Richard Wahlquist, ASA president and chief executive officer. "However, given the unevenness of the recovery over the past year, businesses remain cautious about adding back too many permanent workers too soon. Many are increasing their use of flexible staffing solutions as they experience upticks in demand for their goods and services."

Temporary and contract staffing sales also showed solid gains in the third quarter, totaling $25.2 billion, an increase of 4.2% over what was reported for the second quarter of this year. In a year-to-year comparison, sales in the third quarter were 9.0% higher than during the same period in 2010.

These figures are based on the quarterly ASA Staffing Employment and Sales Survey, which has been newly benchmarked to recently released employment services data from the 2007 U.S. Census of Business. Data series have been adjusted back to 1990, when ASA began estimating the size of staffing industry employment and sales. The ASA Staffing Index, an employment metric based on a weekly survey benchmarked to the census, has also been revised.

Good news from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Seasonally adjusted employment data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that staffing firms added 15,000 new jobs (0.7%) from September to October. In a year-to-year comparison, temporary help employment for the month was 7.9% higher than October 2010.

"The October BLS report underscores the critical importance of the current jobs debate in Washington and the need to jump-start the economy overall," says Richard Wahlquist, president and chief executive officer of the American Staffing Association. "ASA members report that businesses say lack of demand is holding back hiring. Until demand picks up, businesses will continue to rely on their existing permanent work forces and flexible staffing."

Nonseasonally adjusted BLS data, which estimate the actual number of jobs in the economy, indicated that the staffing industry added jobs, with temporary help firms employing approximately 68,900 additional people (2.9%) from September to October. On a year-to-year basis, there were 7.3% more staffing employees in October compared with the same month in 2010.

BLS also provides employment estimates for search and placement firms, but those are nonseasonal only, and reports lag one month. Friday, BLS reported that search and placement employment in September was up 1.2% from August, totaling 258,200 for the month. In a year-to-year comparison, September employment was up 7.9% from the same month in 2010, continuing the trend of year-to-year employment growth in search and placement that began in February 2010. Since then, search and placement firms have added 35,500 jobs.

Expected Staffing Industry Growth

Did you know that the U.S. staffing industry is expected to grow faster and add more new jobs over the next several years than just about any other industry? According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projections, the employment services industry—which is primarily staffing—will be the ninth largest job-growth industry in the U.S. from 2008 through 2018.

2011′s most unusual excuses for missing work:

I thought we could use a laugh,some of these are classic:

“My 12-year-old daughter stole my car and I had no other way to work. I didn’t want to report it to the police.”

“Bats got in my hair.”

“A refrigerator fell on me.”

“I was in line at a coffee shop when a truck carrying flour backed up and dumped the flour into my convertible.”

“A deer bit me during hunting season.”

“I ate too much at a party.”

“I fell out of bed and broke my nose.”

“I got a cold from a puppy.”

“My child stuck a mint up his nose and we had to go to the ER to remove it.”

“I hurt my back chasing a beaver.”

“I got my toe caught in a vent cover.”

“I had a headache after going to too many garage sales.”

“My brother-in-law was kidnapped by a drug cartel while in Mexico.”

“I drank anti-freeze by mistake and had to go to the hospital.”

“I was at a bowling alley and a bucket filled with water (due to a leak) crashed through the ceiling and hit me on the head.”