by: Mia Andrews | Recruiter
Stocks are tumbling…prices of consumer goods are rising…can it get any worse? Apparently it can: Over 60,000 jobs were eliminated in February, marking it the second month in a row of job losses. According to the Associated Press, the last time the economy suffered two consecutive months of job losses was in May and June 2003, when the labor market was struggling from the 2001 recession.
The staffing industry is not immune to changes in the economy and fluctuates per the regulations of supply and demand. In a strong economy, candidate numbers tend to be lower due to low unemployment rates, but many business clients do need help identifying high quality employees in a tight job market. Conversely, in times of an economic slump, the number of people looking for work naturally increases. With so many available workers fighting for a small number of new jobs, there is the potential for employment agencies to have few job orders and too large of a candidate pool. On the plus side, a large candidate pool gives recruiters the opportunity to filter through to the very best!
Common sense would indicate the staffing industry would be the first to suffer at the onset of difficult economic times; however, the industry may also be the first to feel the benefits of a growing economy. When businesses regain strength and can see the light at the end of the economic tunnel, they may turn to staffing agencies as an outsourced equivalent of an HR department to fill the gaps in their workforce caused by previous layoffs and downsizing. Along that line of thought, an upturn in staffing may point to renewed health in the overall economy!
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