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Staffing Shares Mixed After Slow Jobs Growth

Reuters (04/09/12) Lynn Adler

After the release of the March jobs report, indicating the lowest
level of hiring since October, shares of several staffing firms
fell on April 9. ManpowerGroup’s shares were down 2.6%, while
Robert Half International fell 3.1%, Kelly Services dipped 1.7%,
and TrueBlue Inc. declined 3%. However, shares rose 1.4% for
Hudson Highland, 1.2% for Adecco, 2.7% for Randstad, and 0.9% for
Michael Page. Jeff Joerres, chief executive of ManpowerGroup,
says, “The trend we’ve seen over the last three or four
months continues, which is a slow, kind of trudging, clawing out
of the hole that we’ve been in. For the second half, we
expect more of the same—slow, having some spurts of better
months than not.”

J.P. Morgan analysts reported on April 9 that flexible staffing
as a percentage of nonfarm payrolls reached 1.87% last month, up
from 1.75% in July 2011 and 1.34% in June 2009, noting, “In
our view, penetration will continue to increase as the memory of
the Great Recession continues to spur businesses to look to flex
staffing as a source of agility.” Most of the new jobs are
in accounting, finance, and information technology, according to
Joanie Ruge, chief employment analyst at Randstad Holding U.S.,
and many of them are long-term projects that could lead to
permanent employment.

Skilled-Worker Visas See a Surge in Demand

Wall Street Journal (04/09/12) Miriam Jordan

In a development that may signal that the economy is improving,
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service says it has seen a sharp
increase in petitions for H-1B visas this year. USCIS has
received 25,600 petitions for the visas since April 2, almost
twice as many as it received for the entire first month of last
year’s application period. Some 17,400 of the petitions
received in the first week were in the general category of
skilled workers, while 8,200 were in the advanced category, for
workers with an advanced degree. The increase in visa
applications reflects an increase in activity for related
businesses such as technology companies.

After Six Months of Increases, Small-Business Optimism Drops for Main Street

NFIB Small-Business News (04/10/12)

The National Federation of Independent Business’
Small-Business Optimism Index dropped nearly two points to 92.5
in March, with nine of 10 index components—including
hiring—posting declines. However, the job creation
component of the index was the one bright spot, with 10% of
small-business owners surveyed adding 3.1 workers per firm on
average during the past few months on a seasonally adjusted
basis. About 44% of respondents hired or attempted to hire
workers, but 32% said there were few or no qualified applicants.
Although actual hiring figures indicated that March was the best
job creation month in a year, there are concerns about weakness
in the job market given that the percentage of owners with
hard-to-fill job openings and those expecting to boost the number
of employees decreased.

Raising the Floor on Pay

New York Times (04/09/12) Steven Greenhouse

Pressure to boost the minimum wage is rising as the economy
recovers at a slow pace and income inequality becomes a focus of
the presidential campaign. The federal minimum wage rose to $7.25
per hour in July 2009, but lawmakers in New York, New Jersey,
Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, and other states are taking
steps to raise it even higher. Washington currently has the
highest minimum wage of $9.04 per hour, but in Massachusetts, a
measure was approved by the joint committee on labor to boost the
minimum wage to $10 per hour. Meanwhile, some labor groups are
pushing for U.S. Senate Labor Committee chairman Tom Harkin
(D-IA) to lead a charge to boost the federal minimum wage to
$9.80 per hour over the next two years.

One Week to the ASA Staffing Law Conference

The ASA
Staffing Law Conference
, a program devoted to legal and
regulatory issues facing staffing firms, is next week: April
17–18 in Washington, DC.

You can’t afford to miss this opportunity to learn how to
protect yourself and your business. The conference features
Charlie Cook, the pre-eminent authority on U.S.
elections and political trends; senior-level representatives from
the U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, and U.S. Department of Justice; a special session to
discuss the effects of federal health care reform; and more.

To register, visit
americanstaffing.net
.

Showcase Your Membership With the ASA Logo and Graphics

Market research shows that clients recognize membership in ASA as
an indicator of excellence. By displaying the ASA member logo,
you promote your membership and show your commitment to legal,
ethical, and professional practices. Use the ASA member logo on
your Web site, stationery, and business cards, and in your ads
and brochures.

The ASA member logo kit makes it easy. The logo kit includes an
assortment of member logos in both color and black and white,
which are available for download in multiple formats at
americanstaffing.net
. Additional graphics are also
available to showcase your Certified Staffing Professional™
or Technical Services Certified™ credentials, and help
promote Staffing World® or National Staffing
Employee Week.

USCIS Releases Lists of Employers Enrolled in E-Verify Program

National Law Review (04/02/12) Dawn Lurie

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has released
lists
of the more than 345,000 companies enrolled in
E-Verify, the federal government’s electronic employment
eligibility program. USCIS has also offered some caveats to be
considered when searching the lists. The lists only include
companies and federal contractors that have reported their
company has five or more employees. Not all of a company’s
business locations may be listed. The lists will be updated
quarterly.

ICE Is Back With a Brand New Mission

Lexology (04/02/12) Dustin J. O’Quinn

In-depth audits by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can
be triggered by “no match” letters issued by the U.S.
Social Security Administration. No match letters inform companies
that their wage documentation is inconsistent with SSA
information. A summary of ICE’s increased enforcement and
investigative activities can be found here.

ETI Declines Slightly in March

The Conference Board News Release (04/09/12)

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index decreased 0.18% in
March to 107.28, down from the revised figure of 107.47 in
February. The March figure is up 5.2% from the same month a year
ago. March’s decline in the ETI was driven by negative
contributions from three of the eight components—the
percentage of firms with positions they are not able to fill
right now, percentage of respondents who say they find “jobs
hard to get,” and number of employees hired by the temporary
help industry.

Randstad Healthcare Employment Report

Randstad News Release (04/09/12)

The Randstad Healthcare Employee Confidence Index was 58.4 in the
first quarter of 2012, according to a recent online survey.
Eighteen percent of survey respondents report that more jobs are
available, but 47% of health care workers believe there are fewer
opportunities available. Fifty-eight percent of health care
workers are confident they could find a job, and 66% feel
confident about the financial health of their company.

Business Exclusive: Uptick in Temporary Jobs Good Indicator of Hiring Rebound

Fort Myers News-Press (Florida) (04/08/12)

U.S. staffing companies were responsible for employing
approximately 2.8 million temporary and contract workers per day
in 2011, an 8% increase from a year earlier, according to the
American Staffing Association. Staffing companies in Florida are
seeing a modest uptick in demand for their services.
“Health care has been the steady Eddie sector. But
we’re seeing demand start to come back in construction and
real estate,” says Jamie Conley, Fort Myers-based regional
vice president for Robert Half International. He says the
“purely temporary” positions are growing more quickly
than the “temporary to permanent” positions being
offered in Southwest Florida.

Five Reasons the U.S. Hiring Slowdown in March Might Signal a Weakening Job Market

Bloomberg BusinessWeek (04/09/12) Paul Wiseman

Although economists attributed the drop in hiring in March to
unseasonably warm weather in January and February that prompted
construction firms and other employers to hire workers earlier
than they would have otherwise, some observers believe there are
reasons to be concerned about the job market. They believe
economic growth is not strong enough to sustain the average
246,000 jobs added per month from December to February, with a
2.5% anticipated economic growth rate only able to sustain the
addition of 140,000 jobs per month. They also worry about rising
gas prices and the fact that workers’ hours are being cut and
that incomes are not keeping up with inflation. Furthermore, they
point out that millions of Americans have stopped looking for
jobs and that the economy still has not recovered all of the jobs
lost since the recession. Around 8.8 million jobs were lost
between January 2008 and February 2010, but just 3.6 million jobs
have been regained since then.

Will Strong Car Sales Bring More Hiring by Auto Manufacturers?

Wanted Analytics (04/09/12) Abby Lombardi

Despite recent strong automobile sales, hiring in the auto
manufacturing sector was down 13% in the first quarter of 2012
compared with a year earlier. However, hiring demand in the
Detroit metro area has doubled during the last three months
compared with 2011. Demand for production workers has risen 46%
over the past year, while demand for technology workers has
declined 3%—although the volume of job ads for electrical
engineers has risen about 20%.