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Employers Are Refraining From Fourth Quarter Hiring

We are receiving so much contradictory information about the economy and its recovery it is tough to know who and what to believe.  The other day,  Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, announced the recession may be over.   Other pundits claim we have almost turned the economy around, but not quite.  Still others predict a double dip recession, that is where it recovers and then lapses once again.

According to an article in Yahoo, which quotes a study conducted by Manpower, 70% of the employers are planning no changes in their hiring practices for the fourth quarter.   That is until the end of the year in layman’s talk.   The end of the year is a long time away, and with the holiday season coming up, that isn’t good news for a many laid off workers.   Jobs are scarce, as the article attests.  One woman applied for 80 different positions and received one call back from an employer who wanted to talk to her when the economy turned around.

Recruiters expect to pick up the pace in 2010.   They believe it will be slow going at first and then increasing over the year.   Others we talk to claim they are already busy.   As a background checking service we see definite movement in healthcare and trucking and transportation.   Perhaps it is the depletion of inventory that is causing certain manufacturers to ramp up again and need the truckers to ship their goods around the country.   Other manufacturers are taking advantage of the weak dollar and shipping overseas.  This too requires their contracting with trucking firms to transport their goods to the ports.

We are seeing hiring in certain industrial sectors that have received little attention  in the media.  Some technology firms are hiring, and defense related firms have also been hiring.   But with 7 million lost jobs, our observations may be lest significant than the overall picture.  Factor int hat a lot of employers a rehiring people as consultants or independent contractors, and the figures may be skewed.

As I noted, many predictions with one contradicting the next.   We shall see what the new year will bring.

By Gordon Basichis

Gordon Basichis is the Co-Founder of Corra Group, specializing in pre-employment background checks and corporate research. He has been a marketing and media executive and has worked in the entertainment industry, the financial, health care and technology sectors. He is the author of the best selling Beautiful Bad Girl, The Vicki Morgan Story, a non-fiction novel that helped define exotic sexuality in the late twentieth century. He is the author of the Constant Travellers and has recently completed a new book, The Guys Who Spied for China, dealing with Chinese Espionage in the United States. He has been a journalist for several newspapers and is a screenwriter and producer.