Staffing firms are being brought into the ongoing debate about immigration reform.

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, D-Iowa, is introducing legislation that would prohibit staffing firms from bringing in H-1B visa holders, according to Staffing Industry Analysts.  Specifically, it…

 “There isn’t any money in the budget." "We are under a hiring freeze right now.”

How many times have you heard these objections? Or how about "We'd love to use you, but we just can't afford the placement fee right now?" In this economy you may hear “no” to a direct hire more than you like.  But there is another option you could consider that helps the client and is easier on the budget: a contract-to-direct hire solution.  This allows the client to…

A lack of qualified health IT professionals could prevent some healthcare providers from receiving government funding to implement Electronic Health Records (EHRs) at their facilities, according to Staffing Industry Analysts, citing data from a PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) Health Institute…

Recruiters who can satisfy ALL of their clients' staffing needs as sole-source providers could find themselves in demand as companies look to streamline hiring processes.

Just as employers utilize contractors to run leaner and cheaper, they are also looking to cut costs and improve efficiency in their hiring processes. They are achieving those goals by adopting a "blended workforce" approach, according to a…

If you are running your own back-office for contract placements, you will need to start using a new version of Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) soon.

Employers are required to have an I-9 completed for each new hire to verify that they are authorized to work in the United States.…

If you are a recruiter, you are quite familiar with the phrase "cultural fit," but in most cases it's coming from a client who wants to make sure a new hire will fit in with the existing team. But cultural fit is an important requirement for job candidates, too, especially for Millennials.

A…

If your clients are planning to sponsor a foreign worker on an H-1B visa, you might want to advise them to start preparing now.

H-1B visas allow employers to hire foreign workers with specialized knowledge or technical expertise, such as scientists, engineers, or computer professions. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will begin accepting H-1B visas subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2014 cap on April 1.

The cap on H-1B visas for those with…

In our last blog post, we discussed how the housing market is making it difficult for recruiters to find candidates willing to relocate.  But even when selling a house is not a factor, relocating is a huge commitment for workers - one they are often very reluctant to make.

Contract-to-direct arrangements can…

Despite the fact that housing prices are finally rising, recruiters are still having trouble filling positions that require relocation.

Relocation always has the potential of being a hard sell. After all, you are trying to convince someone to uproot themselves and often their entire family to take a chance not only on a new job but a whole new geographic area. But "relocation reluctance" has reached a fever pitch since the recession decimated home values across the country. Candidates…

While Washington struggles to come up with comprehensive immigration reform, the Senate has introduced a bill to help foreign professionals set up shop in the United States.

The bipartisan Startup Act 3.0 would create 75,000 "entrepreneur visas" that would be given to immigrants holding H-1B work visas or F-1 student visas, according to the…

For at least the past decade, Americans have been lamenting the loss of jobs to countries overseas. Everything from call centers to manufacturing operations have been shipped to countries with lower wages and fewer government regulations.

Now it appears that some of those jobs may be coming back home. A new trend is emerging known as "re-shoring," which refers to companies that previously off-shored functions bringing those functions back to the United States.  A…

One of the questions we get most often from recruiters looking to get into contract staffing is "What are the top industries for contract staffing?" That's why we analyze the contract placements that come through our back-office each year.

According to our 2012 placement statistics, the top seven sectors for contract staffing nationwide…

In this shaky economy and ever-changing employment landscape, sometimes traditional hiring methods just don't suffice.  Increasingly, recruiters are being viewed as strategic partners who are expected to provide solutions to staffing problems, not simply fill job orders.

Are you in the position to serve as this type of strategic partner? If you are offering contract staffing, you can confidently say "Yes!"  Contract staffing can provide a solution to a number of hiring…

It seems like everyone from your accountant to your teenage daughter has a blog these days. But should you?

Starting a blog may be the last thing you want to do.  After all, you have cold calls to make, interviews to schedule, and deals to close.  And for a blog to be of any value, you need to post content regularly.  You're not a writer,…

It appears the Department of Labor (DOL) will once again be focusing on worker misclassification in 2013.

Staffing Industry Analysts recently reported that the the DOL plans to commission a $1.9 million study to determine if workers have knowledge of their employment classification and the…

As job creation in the professional arena continues to drive the economic recovery, the Business Professional and Support Staff sector is becoming one of the hottest areas for contract staffing.  

According to Top Echelon Contracting's (TEC) 2012 statistics, Business Professional and Support Staff contractors accounted for 25% of our contract placements, compared with 16% in 2011. The only sector to bring in more contractors last year was Healthcare.

This is no…

Employers are scrambling to find ways to avoid the dreaded "employer mandate" of the healthcare reform law, but those who think Independent Contractors are the answer should think again.

The employer mandate portion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requires employers with 50 or more full-time employees to provide healthcare coverage to their employees. Even though the mandate doesn't kick in until 2014, employers are preparing…

Ok, so you've made the contract placement and your candidate has been working for a couple of weeks.  Now what?

If you have outsourced their employment to a contract staffing back-office, there's really not anything else you HAVE to do, except collect your checks. But may we suggest that you call the client on a regular basis to follow-up on the placement? Successful contract staffing recruiters have shared some insightful reasons for regular…

If you have been in the recruiting industry for any length of time, you are probably familiar with what is known as the "unemployed mindset" - the tendency of employers to prefer currently employed candidates over those who are unemployed. This mindset has prevailed despite mass layoffs during the recession that put many on the unemployment lines through no fault of their own.

As the economy continues its sluggish recovery, some are still struggling to find work. Here…

If you are like many recruiters, one of your New Year's resolutions may be to increase your recruiting cold calls. At the very least, you probably want to increase your placements in 2013, and cold calling can definitely help you do that.

The problem is, few recruiters like making cold calls.  But even with the Internet and traffic-driving social media tricks, nothing can quite replace getting on the phone and talking directly with prospective clients.…