By Heather Stur, SBT Reporter
If the economy picks up this year
as predicted, staffing agencies likely will be called upon to fill previously
downsized positions, industry experts say.
"If things do turn around and
there's a hiring blitz, companies might start to push the panic button and try
to fill positions as quickly as possible," said Jeff McKeown, owner of
Racine Express Personnel Services.
Staffing agencies felt the impact
of the most recent economic downturn and, like other industries, saw a rise in
consolidation and closing of companies, McKeown said. He noted the local
example of Randstad, which recently closed its Racing and Kenosha offices and
moved those services to its Milwaukee locations, he said.
McKeown also expects Internet
recruiting to remain popular, and believes companies increasingly will
outsource human resource functions.
Jessica Ollenburg, president of
HRS, Inc., in Greenfield, said requests for human resource services have
increased more than 300% since January 2001.
"The unfortunate downsizing
in the HR community itself is impacting the staffing industry in that now
there is a greater need for outsourcing," Ollenburg said.
That especially will be true if
the economy turns around and companies began hiring more workers -- and
Ollenburg expects that to be the case. Fore some companies with
downsized human resources staffs, outsourcing may be the best option for them
at this time, she said.
Human resource consultants also
could be beneficial to companies dealing with internal movement due to jobs
that have been opened up due to downsizing, Ollenburg said.
"In addition to hiring, we're
expecting to see internal job changes and advancement opportunities as
well," Ollenburg said. "Especially in those cases, the
need for an objective third party to deal with the hiring is tremendous."
The increasing demand for human
resources consultants likely will not cause permanent human resource
departments to become obsolete, however, Ollenburg said. Consultants now
are being seen more as partners with companies, rather than replacements of
the human resources function. Consultants come in and help companies
deal with staffing changes and program development, but then permanent human
resource staffs typically are hired to implement new hiring or HR projects,
Ollenburg said.
Within the employment industry as
a whole, Ollenburg also sees a movement among agencies to better define their
services as temporary staffing or human resource consulting. While
temporary staffing agencies provide temporary workers, human resource
consultants help employers select permanent, full-time employees (and often
work with employee retention programs -- the opposite of temporary
help.) (Outsource firms) must make clear what services they provide so
that employers are best able to select (programs) to meet their needs, she
said.
"There is a valid need for
both temporary and permanent workers, and agencies need to define what they
offer," Ollenburg said. "The lines were blurring in the
past, but already we're seeing (outsource firms) doing a better job of
defining their niche."
