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Employment Control Inc. Acquired

Employment Staffing News Release (02/16/12)

Employment Control Inc., a regional provider of temporary staffing services, has been acquired by Harbert Mezzanine Partners and Claritas Capital Specialty Debt Fund. Employment Control will continue to operate under the Employment Staffing Inc. brand through 13 branches and four on-site locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Maryland. The current president, Bobby Walker, will remain with the company and will be joined by a new chief executive officer, Clayton Bullock, a 25-year staffing industry executive and former president of Staffmark.

Comspec Management Group acquired Employment Staffing Inc.

Jobless Claims Hit Lowest Level Since 2008

Wall Street Journal (02/17/12) Alan Zibel; Jeff Bater

The number of employees filing new applications for unemployment benefits declined last week to the lowest level since 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Other reports also signaled positive news for the economy. Home building ticked up in January, and wholesale prices rose just 0.1%, although core inflation rose 0.4%. The good reports may further foster the debate among U.S. Federal Reserve policy makers about whether to further stimulate an economy that is growing just slightly more than two years after the end of the recession.

Share of Workers in Scientific Fields Shrinks

Wall Street Journal (02/17/12) Conor Dougherty; Rob Barry

The share of American workers with science and engineering expertise—crucial in an increasingly high-tech economy—declined slightly during the past decade, according to a new analysis of Census data. Workers in technical fields ranging from architecture to software design accounted for 4.9% of the labor force in 2010, down from a high of 5.3% in 2000.

The share of these knowledge workers had increased in every 10-year Census since 1950, according to the Population Reference Bureau, a nonprofit demographic research group that conducted the study. Workers in technical fields also are aging, with the number of scientists and engineers aged 55 or older increasing 32% between 2005 and 2010, while those under 35 fell 1%, according to the PRB analysis.

Desperately Seeking Americans for Factory Jobs

CNNMoney (02/16/12) Parija Kavilanz

U.S. factories are having trouble finding skilled U.S. employees, including machinists. Win-Tech, a Kennesaw, GA, manufacturer, has been trying for more than a year to hire manual machinists, quality control inspectors, and machinists skilled in the use of computer-controlled systems. The company has advertised locally and on popular online recruiting Web sites, such as Monster.com. Win-Tech says it may eventually hire workers who are not fully skilled, and then train them.

Demand High for High-Tech Workers, 1,000 Job Opportunities

WXYZ News (Detroit) (02/17/12) Mary Conway; Sarah Willets

Staffing firm G-Tech says demand for engineers and high-tech workers has increased in the Michigan area because so many qualified people left the state during the recession. Now that the economy is turning around, companies are having a hard time finding workers. G-Tech’s Claudette Cunitz says, “With all of the automotive returning, the primary jobs are in powertrain. With the new emission standards, there is a real push toward hybridization. There is a need for powertrain, NVH, mechanical, and electrical. All engineering disciplines are in high demand.” There is also a big demand for people with IT skills, senior program managers, developers, and business analysts.

G-Tech currently has more than 1,000 job openings. Cunitz says many companies cut back on their training programs and they now have to get creative to fill positions. “Companies are now hiring two to three senior people and then junior people to groom,” she says.

WBENC Announces New List of 2011 America’s Top Corporations for Women’s Business Enterprises

WBENC News (02/15/12)

Kelly Services and ManpowerGroup have made the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council’s list of America’s Top Corporations for Women’s Business Enterprises, which honors those that advance business opportunities for female entrepreneurs and their companies. Kelly Services has twice appeared on the list, and ManpowerGroup has been on the list four times.

Take the ASA Quarterly Employment and Sales Survey

Staffing firms need data to manage their business effectively. By participating in the ASA quarterly survey on temporary and contract staffing, you can help ASA

  • Provide an estimate of total industry size
  • Provide a calculation for temporary worker turnover and average length of service
  • Effectively lobby on behalf of the staffing industry with accurate data about the economic impact of staffing in the U.S.

Participants receive a free exclusive report on the results, which includes payroll data available nowhere else. ASA corporate partner Inavero, a market research firm, administers the survey.

Take the survey now at americanstaffing.net.

Promote Your Professionalism

Create effective proposals with help from ASA—member firms have access to free marketing tools to help you grow your business. If you’ve earned the ASA Certified Staffing Professional™ or Technical Services Certified™ credential, tell clients about the knowledge you’ve gained through the ASA certification programs. Download a fact sheet about ASA certification and continuing education to include with your proposals.

The ASA marketing tool kit is available at americanstaffing.net.

Staffing Today Returns Feb. 21

In observance of Presidents Day, Staffing Today will not be delivered Monday, Feb. 20.

Appeals Court Affirms Summary Judgment in Favor of AMN Healthcare

Leagle.com (02/15/12)

In the case of Meehan v. AMN Healthcare Inc., summary judgment was granted by a trial court in favor of AMN Healthcare, Christina Bergfield, and Bethesda Hospital Inc. Daniel and Mary Meehan appealed the trial court’s decision, and the Court of Appeals of Ohio, First District, affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded the case for additional proceedings.

The case centered around bedsores Daniel Meehan incurred while a patient at Bethesda Hospital; Bergfield was Meehan’s nurse and was placed at Bethesda by AMN. The Meehans argued that the trial court should not have entered judgment in favor of the defendants because Bergfield was Meehan’s nurse when the bedsores arose, and because expert testimony found that a breach in the nursing standard of care resulted in Meehan’s injury.

However, the Court of Appeals disagreed, saying the trial court correctly entered summary judgment in favor of Bergfield. Likewise, the Court of Appeals found that because the trial court correctly entered summary judgment in favor of Bergfield, and because AMN’s only connection to the case was that Bergfield allegedly was on assignment from AMN, summary judgment was correctly entered in favor of AMN. The case against Bethesda, however, has been remanded for additional proceedings.

FTC Warns Mobile App Background Checks May Violate FCRA

Lexology (02/13/12) John G. Kerkorian; Claire Ana-Perot McLamore

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has sent warning letters to mobile app makers Everify Inc., InfoPay Inc., and Intelligator Inc. about six mobile apps that may be in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act if being used for employment screening. These mobile apps are Police Records, Criminal Pages, Background Checks, Criminal Records Search, Investigate and Locate Anyone, and People Search and Investigator. The letters urge the companies to carefully review their apps, policies, and procedures to ensure compliance with the FCRA.

If the apps are subject to the law, consumer reporting agencies must take steps to protect individual privacy, make sure the information is accurate, and ensure employers know they are required to notify employees and applicants if information from the report is used in any adverse action. Experts say employers must be aware of the genesis of the consumer reports used in affirmative employment decisions.

Beware Compliance Pitfalls When Recruiting on Social Media Sites

Compliance Week (02/01/12) Reese Darragh

Using social media tools to recruit can be fraught with compliance issues. For example, companies that improperly use information from applicants’ online profiles to prescreen them may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act or other federal and state laws, attorneys say.

Social media sites often contain information such as an applicant’s age or religious beliefs and other sensitive data. Attorney Susan Gross Sholinsky says companies “should be careful not to make decisions based on information obtained via social media when they know it is unlawful to ask the question that would elicit the information during an interview.” Companies also need to be careful that they recruit using multiple approaches and not just social media. Using just social media risks bias against some minorities who are under-represented on professional social-media sites, Sholinsky says.

To minimize legal risks, companies must adopt consistent recruitment practices. They may also want to consider separating the social media search function from the hiring function.

Kforce and QHR Consulting Services Reveals ICD-10 Impacts to Health Care Organizations

GlobeNewswire (02/16/12)

In performing an assessment of whether a 350-bed medical center in Colorado was ready for the conversion to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision (known as “ICD-10”), Kforce Healthcare Solutions and QHR Consulting Services found that it would have to devote 35,000 hours through the end of next year to complete all the necessary tasks. In addition to upgrading 27 information technology systems, instead of the six the medical center anticipated, it would have to train more than 1,000 hospital employees and community physicians to make the transition to ICD-10. “Our experience shows that many health care facilities are not fully prepared for the scope, cost, and staffing challenges of an ICD-10 conversion,” says Keith Fulmer, executive vice president of Kforce Healthcare Solutions.

Survey: 57% of U.S. Workers Age 60-Plus Would Look for Job in Retirement

Dow Jones Newswires (02/16/12)

Approximately 57% of U.S. workers who are at least 60 years old would look for a new job after retiring from their current company, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of ASA corporate partner CareerBuilder. Meanwhile, an increasing number of employers are looking to hire seasoned staff, with 43% planning to hire workers age 50-plus this year, and 41% reporting they hired workers who were at least 50 years old in 2011.

Having Right Attitude Determines Success in Today’s Job Market

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (02/17/12) Laura Raines

Experts say attitude is second to skills for employers seeking information technology professionals. “Now that business is so thoroughly wrapped around IT, attitude matters a lot,” says Jeff Clement, managing director of international IT staffing company Revolutionary Technologies in Atlanta. “Skills may get you an interview, but attitude determines whether you will get an offer and whether you’ll be happy on the job.” Clement says he has to review a two-dimensional job description detailing skills and experience, then fill the position with a three-dimensional person by learning about the role, the company, and the company culture.

A study by Leadership IQ looked at 20,000 new hires over three years and discovered that 46% were fired, received poor performance reviews, or were written up within 18 months. Technical or functional incompetence was responsible for just 11% of failures, while attitudinal reasons, such as lack of coachability, emotional intelligence, or motivation, accounted for 89%. Mark Murphy, chief executive of Leadership IQ, says job seekers should be looking for a company rather than a position, making sure the culture is a good fit for them before applying.