Category: Talent Acquisition Strategy

Managing Diversity in the Workplace

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According to a recent demographic analysis conducted by the Pew Research Center, by 2055, the U.S. will no longer have a single racial or ethnic majority. This shift towards a more diverse population will have major impacts on the workforce and how organizations address diversity in the workplace.

In the coming years, organizations that understand how to manage diversity in the workplace effectively will hold a distinct advantage when it comes to recruiting and hiring talent. This post outlines how organizations can best approach and manage diversity in the workplace with actionable tips and advice.

What is Diversity in the Workplace?

For an organization looking to cultivate a more diverse and inclusive workplace, it is important to understand what constitutes workplace diversity.

Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between individuals in an organization. Diversity not only includes how individuals identify themselves but also how others perceive them. Diversity within a workplace encompasses race, gender, ethnic groups, age, religion, sexual orientation, citizenship status, military service and mental and physical conditions, as well as other distinct differences between people.

Research Report

Diversity & the Candidate Experience: Identifying Recruitment Pitfalls to Improve DE&I Outcomes

read the report

What are the Benefits of Diversity in the Workplace?

What are the Benefits of Diversity in the Workplace?

What are the benefits of diversity in the workplace? Well, there are many benefits to having a diverse workplace. Organizations that commit to recruiting a diverse workforce have a larger pool of applicants to choose from, which can lead to finding more qualified candidates and reducing the time it takes to fill vacant positions. Businesses that do not recruit from diverse talent pools run the risk of missing out on qualified candidates and may have a more difficult time filling key roles, which increases recruitment costs.

According to a survey conducted by Glassdoor, 67% of job seekers said a diverse workforce is important when considering job offers and 57% of employees think their companies should be more diverse. These numbers are telling. Not only can organizations fill positions with qualified candidates more quickly by recruiting from different talent pools, but a diverse workforce also benefits their employer brand which is crucial when it comes to getting the right talent.

Having a diverse workforce with multi-lingual employees and employees from varying ethnic backgrounds can also be helpful for organizations who want to expand or improve operations in international, national, regional and local markets.

More benefits to having diversity in the workplace:

  • Employees from diverse backgrounds imbue organizations with creative new ideas and perspectives informed by their cultural experiences
  • A diverse workplace will help organizations better understand target demographics and what moves them
  • A diverse workplace can better align an organization’s culture with the demographic make-up of America
  • Increased customer satisfaction by improving how employees interact with a more diverse clientele and public

Diverse Staffing: How to Manage Diversity in the Workplace

Managing Diversity in the workplace

Managing diversity in the workplace presents a set of unique challenges for HR professionals. These challenges can be mitigated if an organization makes a concerted effort to encourage a more heterogeneous environment through promoting a culture of tolerance, open communication and creating conflict management strategies to address issues that may arise.

For leadership to effectively manage diversity in the workplace, they need to understand their backgrounds and how their behavior and beliefs can affect their decision-making within a diverse environment.

Tips for Managing Workplace Diversity

diverse staffing

Prioritize communication

To manage a diverse workplace, organizations need to ensure that they effectively communicate with employees. Policies, procedures, safety rules and other important information should be designed to overcome language and cultural barriers by translating materials and using pictures and symbols whenever applicable.

Treat each employee as an individual

Avoid making assumptions about employees from different backgrounds. Instead, look at each employee as an individual and judge successes and failures on the individual’s merit rather than attributing actions to their background.

Encourage employees to work in diverse groups

Diverse work teams let employees get to know and value one another on an individual basis and can help break down preconceived notions and cultural misunderstandings.

Base standards on objective criteria

Set one standard of rules for all groups of employees regardless of background. Ensure that all employment actions, including discipline, follow this standardized criteria to make sure each employee is treated the same.

Be open-minded

Recognize, and encourage employees to recognize, that one’s own experience, background, and culture are not the only with value to the organization. Look for ways to incorporate a diverse range of perspectives and talents into efforts to achieve organizational goals.

Hiring

To build a diverse workplace, it is crucial to recruit and hire talent from a variety of backgrounds. This requires leadership and others who make hiring decisions to overcome bias in interviewing and assessing talent. If organizations can break through bias and hire the most qualified people, those with the right education, credentials, experience and skill sets, a diverse workplace should be the natural result.

Tips for hiring a diverse workforce:

  • Incorporate a diverse interview panel to ensure candidates are chosen solely based on suitability for the position.
  • Managers should be trained on what can and cannot be asked in an interview. For example, questions about an applicant’s personal life, such as which church they attend, their romantic life and political beliefs, are off-limits.
  • Get creative when recruiting. For example, if an organization would like to hire more women in the engineering department, they could reach out to professional groups that cater to women in engineering and ask to advertise open positions in their newsletter or member communications.

Diversity Management: Policies and Practices

diversity management

Organizations that embrace diversity also need to ensure that there are policies and practices in place to protect employees’ rights and stay compliant with government regulations.

It is essential for an organization to think about the impact that company policies and practices have on a diverse group of employees. Companies should create a way for employees to give feedback with surveys and suggestion boxes to gain a better understanding of how employees feel about diversity policies. Any feedback received, both positive and negative, is valuable. Companies need to be ready to adapt and change policies that may be interpreted as obstructions or not helpful for employees.

In addition to the written policies, it is also essential to ensure that the non-official “rules” of an organization are thoroughly explained to all employees to communicate company values and culture to all workers effectively.

Documentation of Policies and Procedures

Properly documenting diversity policies is an effective means of communicating an organization’s stances on diversity. Once concrete plans are ready to be implemented, documents that outline each policy should be included in the employee handbook. Diversity policies should be reviewed with every new hire, and when updates to policies are made, they should be shared with current employees as well.

Employee handbooks should cover diversity in the following sections:

  • Code of conduct should outline the company’s policy toward diversity
  • Non-discrimination policy lets employees know about diversity
  • Compensation and benefits policy
  • Employment conditions and termination

Zero-Tolerance Policy

Having a diverse workplace means that off-color jokes about ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or religion need to be met with zero-tolerance enforcement. Slurs, name-calling and bullying employees for any reason has no place in today’s workplace. Policies should be put in place to handle misconduct and communicate to employees that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.

Organizations will also need to make sure employees feel safe reporting any instances of inappropriate behavior by co-workers by establishing a formal complaint policy,  so employees know how to report misconduct to the proper authority within an organization.

Sensitivity Training 

Employees need to be aware of how to coexist with a diverse range of people, as well as be cognizant of cultural sensitivity, to achieve harmony within a diverse workplace. Sensitivity training can help an organization manage diversity in the workplace by helping employees become more self-aware, which plays a vital role in helping employees understand their own cultural biases and prejudices.

Benefits of sensitivities training:

  • Helps employees examine and adjust their perspectives about people from different backgrounds
  • Employees can learn to better appreciate the views of others
  • Shows employees what actions are offensive and why they are perceived as such
  • Teaches employees how to calmly communicate that a co-worker has offended them and how to resolve the conflict properly
  • Explains to employees how to apologize to a co-worker if they have indeed offended them unknowingly
  • All employees should be included in sensitivity training; adding specific training for managers makes it even more impactful. Some companies also offer sensitivity training online.

Stay Abreast of Diversity Laws  

Managing diversity in the workplace means that businesses need to keep abreast of changing employer-related laws and trends, especially diversity-related changes. Organizations should regularly review internal policies, especially those around harassment and equal opportunity, and make sure they reflect the most current laws and regulations.

If an organization has an international or multi-state presence, it is necessary to track regional changes to laws and regulations as they vary from country to county and state to state.

Diversity law resources:

The Importance of Diversity in the Workplace

The Importance of Diversity in the Workplace

Encouraging diversity is the way forward for organizations. In a global talent market, businesses that can successfully manage diversity in the workplace will have a definite competitive advantage over others in terms of differentiation, innovation and employer branding.

Dissecting the September Jobs Report

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September Jobs Report

The Labor Department released its September jobs report which shows major impacts from hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

The Numbers

-33,000: The economy lost 33,000 jobs in September
4.2%: The unemployment rate fell to 4.2 percent
2.9%: Wages increased 2.9 percent over the past year

The Good

Despite the 33,000 lost jobs in September, there are several bright points in September’s jobs report. The 4.2 percent unemployment rate is a new post-recession low. According to Business Insider, it’s the lowest since February 2001. Additionally, wage gains increased in September by 2.9 percent, which is higher than the steady 2.5 percent increases we’ve seen most of this year. That number could be skewed because low wage food service and hospitality workers who were out of work due to the hurricanes were not included in the figure. However, the New York Times reports that there are signs the labor shortage is starting to increase wages.

The Bad

September’s jobs report is the first time in seven years that the U.S. economy has shed jobs. However, the Wall Street Journal reports that economists say the number holds no weight because of the impacts of hurricanes Harvey and Irma. After Hurricane Katrina, the economy saw similar impacts, but those were temporary, resolving in about two months. The vast majority of the jobs lost were in food service and hospitality, which will likely return as Florida and Texas recover. However, economists did expect modest job gains of about 80,000 in September, so in that case, the job losses were worse than anticipated.

The Hurricanes

Because this jobs report is such an outlier due to hurricanes Harvey and Irma, it’s important to understand some of the numbers behind their impact. Although Hurricane Harvey hit in late August, it didn’t have a large impact on the August jobs report. According to the Labor Department, Texas and Florida account for about 7.7 percent of U.S. employment. Most reported job losses occurred in the food, tourism and hospitality in those states. The jobs will likely return, but since many of those positions are hourly and employees were not paid while the hurricanes shut down much of those industries, they are considered job losses. However, the Labor Department reports that the hurricanes had no impact on the unemployment rate.
Additionally, according to the Wall Street Journal, 1.5 million Americans reported that they had a job in September but were not working because of the weather. That’s the highest number since January 1996, when a blizzard hit the Northeastern part of the country, resulting in 60 deaths and causing $585 million in damage. This demonstrates the massive impact of hurricanes Harvey and Irma had on September’s jobs report.
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which both suffered significant hurricane damage, are not included in the Labor Department Survey.
We’ll have our analysis on the October jobs report when it comes out next month.

Dissecting the August Jobs Report

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August Jobs Report

The Labor Department released its August jobs report with slower than expected job growth and a slight increase in the unemployment rate.

The Numbers

156,000: The U.S. economy added 156,000 jobs in August
4.4%: The unemployment rate increased to 4.4 percent
2.5%: Wages increased 2.5 percent over the past year

The Good

Rather than good or bad, a lot of the news in the August jobs report falls somewhere in the middle. After the strong numbers in July’s jobs report, the August numbers are more middle of the road. According to the Wall Street Journal, both the job gains and unemployment rate were disappointing according to economists’ projections. However, Marketwatch reports that the numbers still point toward a strong economy, and hiring numbers typically dip slightly in August.

The Bad

The weakest point in the jobs report again this month is the 2.5 percent wage growth. The fact that wage growth remains anemic despite consistent hiring and a low unemployment rate remains a bit of an economic mystery, according to the New York Times. Marketwatch reports that wage gains typically run 3 percent to 4 percent at this stage of an economic recovery. However, economists say there may be a number of factors holding wage gains down to 2.5 percent, including the retirement of highly-paid baby boomers and underemployment that’s still slightly higher than before the Great Recession.

The Unknown

The biggest unknown in the August jobs report is the impact of Hurricane Harvey. According to Business Insider, the hurricane happened too late in the month to be captured by government surveys. The impact will likely show up in unemployment filings over the next few weeks. In a separate article, Business Insider reports that Harvey will likely impact jobs reports over the next few months, distorting numbers for unemployment, job creation and even wage growth. Economists predict the impact will be fairly localized to Texas, but if people are displaced by the hurricane, like many were after Hurricane Katrina, the impact could spread to other cities.
The September jobs report will likely show the first signs of Harvey’s impact, as the Labor Department may revise some of August’s numbers, and the predicted spike in unemployment claims will likely occur. We’ll have our analysis of September’s jobs report when it comes out next month.

Recruiting in the Gig Economy

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In this tight talent market, organizations need to change the way they look at talent acquisition. Traditionally, employers have relied on full-time employees, attracting workers and hiring through traditional channels. However, in recent years, a growing number of workers have eschewed the traditional model, turning to the gig economy. Now, the best person for the job might not be looking for a conventional job.

To stay competitive, many employers are tapping into this gig economy talent, but the process can be complicated. Organizations need to be able to attract these workers and manage the compliance risks that come with a contingent workforce. To accomplish this, many employers turn to a Managed Service Provider (MSP).

Attracting Gig Economy Workers

To understand how to attract gig economy workers, employers first need to know who these are and what they’re looking for. On one end, high-skill, high-earning freelancers enter the gig economy because they are looking for independence, creativity and increased pay. On the other end of the spectrum, low-skill, low-wage workers are looking more for the flexibility and ability to set their own schedule. You can learn more about the gig economy talent landscape in last week’s blog post.

Depending on the type of gig worker an organization wants to attract, it will have to tailor job descriptions to appeal to that kind of person. Because contingent workers are not permanent employees, they aren’t drawn to traditional perks like 401K contributions or generous vacation policies. Additionally, the types of factors that influence an employee to stay at a job or with an organization don’t always apply when it comes to contingent workers. The Harvard Business Review reports the biggest reasons employees stay at an organization are a clear career path, good pay and company culture. Gig economy workers are already starting an unconventional career path, and depending on their roles, gig workers may not fully take part in company culture. However, gig workers are drawn to more than just money.

In a sense, gig workers are always candidates. Generally, employees search for jobs when they’re looking to make a career move. Gig economy workers are always looking for their next move. If a gig worker is on a contract, they are still looking for the next one. If a project doesn’t take all of their time or provide enough income, they are looking for supplementary work. This sets them apart from traditional employees.

Organizations need to focus on their employer brand to attract gig workers. That brand can tap into gig workers’ desires to do meaningful work, which according to the Harvard Business Review, is something workers of all generations are looking for.

The Risks

While the gig economy can provide top talent for organizations, there can be legal risks, and the biggest is worker misclassification. Worker misclassification happens when an organization classifies a worker as an independent contractor when the person meets the legal definition of an employee. This means the person doesn’t get the benefits associated with permanent employment, even though for all intents and purposes, the person is in a traditional working arrangement.

A judge in Ohio recently ruled that American Family Insurance Group misclassified insurance agents as independent contractors in a class action lawsuit that could cost the company as much as $1 billion. While the judge ordered immediate appellate review, Staffing Industry Analysts reports that the impacts could ripple throughout the entire insurance industry. Other companies have shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars. Fed Ex settled a worker misclassification class action lawsuit for $228 million in 2015.

The line between freelancer and employee can be slim, and the classification isn’t always simple. According to Entrepreneur, the courts have put together six questions for organizations that can draw the line between an employee and an independent contractor. Aside from independent contractors, there are other classifications of contingent workers, including statement of work (SOW) and temporary – either hired directly or through a staffing agency.

Additionally, organizations need to remain compliant with the patchwork of laws impacting contingent workers across the country. New York City’s “Freelance Isn’t Free” law affects companies that hire New York-based independent contractors. Other legislation, like paid sick leave, that isn’t specifically aimed at contingent workers may impact certain classifications of workers depending on local laws. Because many of these compliance issues are based on state, county or even city legislation, organizations need to be prepared to keep track of the constantly changing compliance landscape.

Managing the Gig Economy

To alleviate much of this administrative burden, many employers work with an MSP to manage their contingent workforces, including handling compliance and risk mitigation, supplier management and driving cost savings. MSPs serve as strategic business liaisons, managing the entire lifecycle of an organization’s contingent workforce program from finding qualified workers and suppliers to standardizing processes and much more.

MSPs help organizations source the best talent from the growing gig economy by understanding the contingent workforce landscape and working with the best suppliers to meet clients’ needs. They enable organizations to take full advantage of the talent, providing peace of mind that all compliance requirements will be met.


MSPs are also valuable partners when it comes to workforce planning. An organization looking to find talent in the gig economy will have to find the right mix of full-time and contingent workers. An experienced MSP provider can help an organization determine whether the best person for the job can be found in a gig economy or as a full-time worker.

Additionally, an MSP can help with permanent hires. An MSP can pipeline strong contingent workers into full-time positions within the organization. Through this process, the new full-time hires already have experience with the organization, and the organization knows more about the new employee’s work abilities.


As companies of all sizes become leaner, their supply chain and procurement groups are openly embracing outsourcing for the non-employee category. As a result, the value of the MSP has evolved. MSPs were initially a strategy to help companies drive down costs, gain visibility and attain management reporting for their contingent labor usage.

Today, experienced users of MSP and those just beginning to evaluate an MSP strategy alike are putting more weight on the value of a broader supplier network for their contingent workforce. They are now looking to MSP providers to do more than just manage costs, but also to support end-to-end supplier management from sourcing to contracting to performance management to ensure better results and drive compliance in all aspects of the program.


You can read more about what an MSP can do for an organization here, on our PeopleScout Managed Service Provider (MSP) Solutions Fact Sheet.

Gig Economy: Beyond the Buzzword

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Millions of people in the U.S. and across the world are leaving behind traditional working arrangements to join the growing gig economy. In this tight talent market, organizations will find some of their best talent through freelance and other contingent labor arrangements. The gig economy has received a lot of attention over the past few years, but it is more than just a trend. Organizations need to understand this new way of working and who these workers are to get the most out of their workforce strategies.

The Gig Economy? Freelancing? What’s the difference?

While the term “gig economy” is the latest buzzword, the concept behind it is hardly new. The National Law Review argues the gig economy has existed for years; what we see now is just growth and rebranding. Manufacturing and retail companies have relied on temporary labor to get through busy seasons for decades. Organizations have contracted freelance writers and graphic designers on a project-to-project basis to find the right talent for the job. The “gig economy” is a new name for an old concept – contingent workers.

Contingent workers are defined as freelancers, independent contractors, consultants, temporary contract workers or other non-permanent workers. Unlike full-time employees, contingent workers are generally used on a project basis or to meet seasonal needs. This can create a more stable workforce that is protected against cyclical changes by quickly downsizing contingent labor if necessary. In the past, contingent labor was attractive during times of economic downfall. Now, contingent labor is used increasingly on an ongoing basis.

The gig economy also covers a broad range of workers – skilled and unskilled, high- and low-earning. According to the Harvard Business Review, “workers with specialized skills, deep expertise, or in-demand experience,” or those contingent workers traditionally thought of as freelancers, tend to be successful in the growing gig economy because they can earn more and select more interesting work. However, the same article suggests that low-skill, low-wage workers in retail and service positions can also benefit from the gig economy, where they can find a more flexible schedule and greater autonomy. These workers aren’t usually thought of as freelancers, but they’re part of the growing trend.

Who Works in the Gig Economy?

The phrase “gig economy” likely evokes an image of a millennial driving for a rideshare service or doing freelance writing or web design, but statistics available about the gig economy tell a very different story. Many gig economy workers are Generation Xers who were laid off during the Great Recession and turned to gig work. According to the Aspen Institute, between 2010-2014, nearly 30 percent of jobs created were independent contract positions.

A Staffing Industry Analysts study estimates about 44 million Americans or about 29 percent of the workforce have taken part in the gig economy. Of that, the study breaks down those workers into a few more categories:

  • Independent contractors or self-employed workers: 23.5 million
  • Human cloud workers: 9.7 million
  • Temporary workers assigned through a staffing agency: 9.5 million
  • Temporary employees sourced directly: 5.5 million
  • Statement of work consultants employed by a consulting firm: 2.9 million

An Aspen Institute survey of gig economy workers provides some demographic insights.

  • The highest concentrations of gig economy workers in the United States are in the Pacific and Mountain regions, with the lowest concentration in the Upper Midwest and New England
  • Gig economy workers are more likely than the average worker to work from home, but working from home is becoming less popular among gig workers
  • Gig economy workers are more likely than traditional workers to have been laid off, most likely during the Great Recession
  • Nearly 60 percent of all gig workers are male with a median age of 50 years old

Seniors are also a growing segment of the gig economy workforce, according to the JP Morgan Chase Institute. According to their recent survey, more than 400,000 seniors are participating in the online platform economy through apps like Uber and Airbnb, which is just one segment of the gig economy. This goes along with a greater trend of more seniors staying in the workforce. According to the JPMorgan Chase research, seniors get about a quarter of their income from labor.

Looking Forward

How confident can organizations be that the expanding gig economy is more than just a temporary trend? Some experts argue that the growth of the gig economy is tied to certain economic and political factors. Time Money reports the gig economy was a side effect of the Affordable Care Act. The article explains the increased cost of complying with the law pushed some organizations to rely on freelance workers, while at the same time, the increased availability of market plans gave some workers the ability to start the freelance career they wanted. Experts agree that at least part of the growth in the gig economy could be impacted by changes in U.S. healthcare laws. However, it’s not the only factor.

According to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute, the gig economy is growing in the U.S. and internationally. The study estimates that 20-30 percent of working people in the U.S. and Europe have engaged in independent work. This speaks to the fact that the gig economy is not a temporary trend tied to U.S. political and economic climate, but rather a global transformation in the way that people think about work. This suggests that while certain government policies may make an impact, the gig economy is here to stay.

Finding the Right Partner

So how do organizations that have been tied to the traditional employment model get their feet wet in the gig economy? They need to prepare by understanding what types of talent they are looking to tap into and understand how the best talent in that space operates. Then, they need to ensure they are set up to engage properly with different types of contingent workers – whether they’re independent contractors, employees of a staffing agency or statement of work workers.

When addressing these issues, it’s helpful to have an expert on your side. Working with a managed service provider (MSP) can alleviate some of the administrative burden associated with the contingent workforce, including compliance and risk mitigation and driving cost savings.

MSPs serve as strategic business liaisons, managing the entire lifecycle of an organization’s contingent workforce program from finding qualified suppliers to standardizing processes and much more. One benefit of using an MSP is their ability to leverage their vast supplier network to compare wages and make sure their clients are offering a fair and competitive rate. The relationships that MSPs have with their suppliers give them quick access to top talent which is critical when trying to fill specialized positions.

To learn more about how organizations can tap into the gig economy to find the best talent for their companies and how an MSP can help, check out our blog post on recruiting in the gig economy.

Hiring Our Heroes: A PeopleScout Commitment to Veterans and Military Spouses

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Over the past five years, the veteran unemployment rate has fallen, and new challenges are emerging. The unique employment issues faced by military spouses are rising to the forefront. In our earlier series on veteran employment, we addressed the 18 percent unemployment rate among military spouses and urged companies to focus their hiring efforts on the entire military family.

A White House Meeting

Hiring our Heroes, a program of U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, is now bringing those issues to the attention of the White House. PeopleScout is a founding and current board member of Hiring Our Heroes.

In early August, representatives from Hiring our Heroes, alongside 10 military spouses, met in the Roosevelt room at the White House. The group met with Ivanka Trump, Kellyanne Conway, Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta and Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon to share the unique challenges those spouses face. Media outlets covered the event as part of the administration’s “American Dream Week.”

CNN reports the group focused on issues like state-by-state licensing requirements that can make it difficult for spouses in professions like teaching, law and nursing to find jobs when a family moves as a part of one family member’s military service. Officials with Hiring Our Heroes say the meeting helps elevate the employment challenges of military spouses to the same level of importance as veteran unemployment.

The Study

In June 2017, Hiring Our Heroes released a report that provides numbers and new details about the employment challenges of military spouses. The report calls attention to the fact that military families struggle to maintain two incomes, something that more than 60 percent of American families rely on. In the military, only about 50 percent of households have two incomes.

Military spouses say they struggle to find consistent employment as their family moves due to a military transfer or as they take on additional family responsibilities during a deployment. 92 percent of military spouses are women, and the unemployment rate for military spouses is about four times higher than the level of unemployment for all American women.

When searching for a job, military spouses say the most frequent issue they face is that employers don’t want to hire them out of fear that they will move. They also struggle explaining gaps in their resume and often need a more flexible schedule while their spouse is deployed. Because of these challenges, about a quarter of military spouses say it has taken them more than a year to find a job after a move and many work part-time or seasonal jobs or work more than one job when they want permanent, full-time employment.

When military spouses do find employment, about 70 percent report that the job does not take full advantage of their work experience and education. Nearly two-thirds of military spouses say they have taken a decrease in pay or responsibilities in their current job. Most military spouses with post-secondary education say that the military lifestyle does not support career opportunities for both spouses.

These issues faced by military spouses have much broader implications. Finding work and managing a career is one of the top stressors for military families, just behind deployments and moving away from friends and families. That stress plays a significant role in a veteran’s decision to leave the military, according to the study, and impacts that military’s readiness and ability to recruit.

A Long Partnership

PeopleScout has long been a partner of Hiring our Heroes in its mission to help veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses find meaningful employment opportunities. Our parent company, TrueBlue, was a founding member of the national advisory circle on the Veteran Employment Advisory Council, which was created in 2011. The VEAC is committed to hiring veterans and military spouses, establishing best practices for veteran employment, reporting measures like job opportunities, interviews and placements, providing mentors to military members transitioning into the civilian workforce and working with other businesses to do the same.

TrueBlue is also on the Wounded Veteran and Caregiver Employment Advisory Council, which focuses on the employment needs of wounded veterans and veteran caregivers. The council focuses on finding flexible work schedules or remote-work opportunities to support veterans’ and caregivers’ integration back into civilian employment. Many veterans face permanent injuries, including post-traumatic stress (PTS), physical disabilities and traumatic brain injuries that make the transition to traditional employment difficult.

TrueBlue backs up that commitment through action, hiring more than 30,000 veterans every year. That’s more than any other recruiting company in the world. For three straight years, TrueBlue companies PlaneTechs and PeopleScout have earned the Military Friendly Employer designation. PlaneTechs is also ranked #1 by GI Jobs among small to mid-size companies. PeopleScout also created the Veteran Talent Exchange, connecting veterans to employers committed to their hiring.

Dissecting the July Jobs Report

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The Labor Department released its July jobs report with higher than expected jobs numbers and an unemployment rate that returned to a 16-year low.

July Jobs Report

The numbers

222,000: The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in July
4.4%: The unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent
2.5%: Wages went up 2.5 percent over the past year

The good

The 209,000 jobs added in July is good news for the economy. According to the Wall Street Journal, this number is above the yearly average and shows that the economy is nowhere near slowing down as some had feared earlier this year. CNBC reports that the job growth exceeded economist expectations for the month, and most of the gains came in bars and restaurants, business and professional services and healthcare. Even retail, which has been an economic weak spot, showed some modest job gains in July.

The 4.3 percent unemployment rate is another positive, falling back to May’s 4.3 percent, the lowest unemployment rate in sixteen years. Last month the unemployment rate rose .1 percent, which economists attributed to more people entering the workforce. However, the Wall Street Journal reports that the difference between June’s unemployment rate and July’s unemployment rate is only a rounding difference, and the unemployment rate is essentially unchanged.

The bad

There is a lot of good in this jobs report, but the weakest point is the 2.5 percent wage growth, which has been a common theme throughout mid-2017. Wage growth has remained around 2.5 percent even though Marketwatch reports that wages typically rise 3 percent to 4 percent when the economy is running at full throttle.

The unknown

The question for economists in this report is why wages are only showing modest growth when other signs indicate that the labor market is tightening. According to Marketwatch, it could be a number of factors, and likely a combination of low productivity, global competition and a reluctance of Americans to change jobs after the Great Recession. The New York Times reports that the slow wage growth may cause the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy more quickly.

We’ll have our analysis of the August jobs report when it comes out next month.

The Commercial Driver Talent Landscape – Candidates are in the Driver’s Seat

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Changes in the talent landscape, skills shortages and demographic shifts are making it harder than ever to recruit commercial drivers. Commercial truck drivers are among the hardest jobs to fill in the United States. A downward trend in the number of active candidates available and an increase in the overall number of job postings make for a difficult recruiting climate, according to a recent study by CareerBuilder. With employers competing for CDL candidates, these job-seekers can “drive” their relationship with organizations.

The Driver Talent Landscape

  • More than 3.5 million people in America make their living as truck drivers, via American Trucking Associations (ATA) Trends.
  • The average CDL candidate has six to 10 years of driving experience.
  • The median pay for a truck driver in 2015 was just more than $40,000 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Trucking is the largest job in 29 states, according to The Guardian.
  • Trucks will transport over 10 billion tons of freight in 2017, and that number is expected to increase in 2018, via ATA Trends.
  • The trucking industry will need to hire nearly 900,000 drivers in the next decade to meet rising demand and cover for the aging workforce nearing retirement age.
  • The average driver is 49-years-old, and retirement is driving much of the current turnover.

Truck Driver Shortage

The industry is currently facing a shortage of nearly 50,000 drivers, and that deficit is expected to grow in the coming years due to low numbers of qualified drivers, an aging workforce and overall industry turnover, according to the ATA Driver Shortage Analysis.That report states that trucking company representatives think attracting and retaining new driver talent is their most crucial strategic initiative, outweighing other issues like regulatory compliance, risk management and revenue growth.

The driver shortage is also due to the out of pocket costs of obtaining a CDL and the physical demands of the job. The local delivery driver position, in particular, is one that requires the employee to not only to drive a truck but physically unload and interact with customers. There is a decrease among millennials who are choosing to do labor-intensive work, so it’s more important than ever for organizations to consider how to attract this generation.

ATA also reports that between 2016 and 2027, the amount of freight moved by trucks is expected to increase by 27 percent. In fact, Fortune named truck drivers the most in-demand job in 2016. Meeting that demand while dealing with the current shortage won’t be an easy task. The ATA proposes a variety of solutions to help address the shortage, including increasing driver pay and offering sign-on bonuses, providing drivers more at-home time and catering to veterans.

Attracting a New Generation of CDL Drivers

The commercial driver landscape is further complicated by the fact that currently, the demand for commercial drivers is increasing as a significant portion of the CDL workforce is nearing retirement age. How can recruiters attract millennials to the industry as they watch the development of driverless cars? How can job hunters prepare themselves for the current CDL talent market and the future driverless talent market at the same time?

Companies that use CDL talent and the talent acquisition professionals focused on recruiting those drivers, must be focused on ways to attract millennials to these in-demand driving positions or risk getting left behind. Responses to traditional print media ads are declining, making it increasingly necessary to use social media, mobile and digital sourcing strategies to attract drivers who are on the road.

Trucks.com reports that more than a third of trucking companies are increasing investments in employee recruiting and improving their HR functions to help attract new talent and speed up the hiring and training process. Companies are also increasing their use of social media to promote open positions, partnering with local CDL schools to attract new graduates and working with the U.S. military to recruit veterans.

What’s Next? Self-Driving Trucks

Another thing affecting the industry is the self-driving car, with both Google and Uber regularly making the news for their tests and industry experts predicting they’ll be common and affordable by 2025.

The freight transportation industry needs to be prepared for the change because as the industry transforms, they need to find the candidates who can be successful in the shift. According to the LA Times, research has shown that artificial intelligence creates more roles for highly educated people. While the demand for drivers may go down, the search for candidates who can build and maintain driverless fleets will provide a new challenge.

Check out our fact sheet, Source the Right Commercial Drivers for Your Organization with PeopleScout, to learn how partnering with an experienced provider can help find the drivers you need in this competitive talent landscape.

Self-driving vehicles are one of the top seven trends impacting the talent acquisition industry. To learn more about how the technology could transform recruiting and to learn more about the other six trends, download our ebook: Seven Tech Trends Shaping the Talent Landscape.

Dissecting the June Jobs Report

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The Labor Department released its June jobs report with better than expected job growth and signs that point to increasing labor force participation. Here’s what we know:

The numbers

222,000: The U.S. economy added 222,000 jobs in June
4.4%: The unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent
2.5%: Wages went up 2.5 percent over the past year

The good

The 222,000 jobs added is good news. According to the Wall Street Journal, it’s the largest increase since February, and it’s even larger than economists were expecting. This helps quash some of the fears about slowing job growth that we talked about after the May jobs report.

Additionally, even though an increase in the unemployment rate may not seem positive, it’s a sign that more people are entering the job market. Marketwatch reports that’s typical for the month of June, as the flood of new college grads enter the job market, though modest gains in labor force participation indicate that some workers sidelined during the recession have gained the confidence to re-enter the job market.

The bad

The 2.5 percent wage increase is a familiar number for economists. Bloomberg reports that while hiring has accelerated throughout the recovery from the Great Recession, wage gains have remained modest. Economists had expected wages to increase as the unemployment rate fell. So far, that hasn’t happened.

The unknown

The biggest unknown is why wage gains continue to disappoint. The New York Times reports it may be a sign that the economy is not yet nearing full employment like some had predicted and still has room to grow. Bloomberg reports that the growing labor force participation could be keeping wages down, but other economists point to the retirement of high-earning Baby Boomers who are being replaced by the lower-earning millennial workforce. Marketwatch also points to the possibility of decreased productivity and increased global competition.

Read our analysis of the July report here.

Designing a Total Workforce Solution

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The rise of the gig economy increased access to global talent and changing candidate expectations are forcing many companies to reconsider the make-up of their workforces. Organizations are beginning to recognize the benefits of integrating both full-time and contingent talent into one total workforce program. Evolving your talent acquisition program to include both full-time and contingent workers allow you to focus on finding the best talent, regardless of worker type.

In this disrupted talent landscape, it’s clear that Total Workforce Solutions can provide a competitive advantage. But what, exactly, does a total workforce solution look like in action?

What are Total Workforce Solutions?

A total talent solution lets you hire the best talent for your positions, regardless of worker type. Total Workforce Solutions programs can incorporate full cycle, scalable RPO and MSP programs or specific services to meet your needs. Total Workforce Solutions provide a holistic approach to talent acquisition by providing visibility across all worker types – from contingent to full-time – and talent channels.

Key drivers and advantages of Total Workforce Solutions

Key drivers for MSP and RPO integration include:

  • Bifurcated talent acquisition strategy
  • Lack of visibility across total workforce
  • Siloed decision making
  • Risk
  • Growth of the non-employee workforce
  • Globalized workforce
  • Emerging talent pools
  • Skills and experience scarcity
  • Escalating competition for talent
  • Demographic shifts
  • Ineffective pipelining
  • Workforce disruption

Total Workforce Solutions drive financial advantages like cost savings from better workforce utilization, improved demand management and lower service and vendor management costs than in a previously decentralized program. Strategic benefits include more access to global expertise, cross-trained and fully integrated implementation teams, and insights and advice across your entire talent spectrum.

Finally, moving from a bifurcated talent acquisition strategy with siloed decision making and a lack of visibility across employee and non-employees to a holistic view of the entire talent spectrum will allow you to be more flexible and adaptable. You can engage the talent you need, whether it be full-time, contingent, freelance, contractor, remote or on-site, depending on the position.

Designing your total workforce solution

Other benefits of a fully integrated talent strategy include competitive advantage, stability and the opportunity become more proactive – moving from “default” to “design.” However, moving your talent acquisition strategy from default to design is not a simple process. The factors that go into creating an integrated talent strategy differ based on every organization and the maturity of their workforce programs.

There are three key questions you should ask yourself before starting down a path to a total talent strategy:

  • What is your current state?
  • Where do you want to be?
  • How do you get started?

Getting started may be the most difficult hurdle for companies moving to a total workforce solution. For some organizations, it may help to first show the value of centralizing all forms of contingent and full-time employees into a single program. Once internal stakeholders can see the value of greater reporting visibility, risk mitigation, cost savings and more, it begins to remove the uncertainty and knowledge siloes that have been created.

At PeopleScout’s 2017 client forum, attendees participated in roundtable discussions on Total Workforce Solutions. Key takeaways on getting started with a total talent program included:

  • Have a plan to help you move from reactive to proactive
  • Analyze the data you have at your disposal to determine what you can use to support your workforce planning
  • Find an executive sponsor for your total workforce program to provide guidance and reinforcement

Check out our white paper, Total Workforce Solutions: Optimize Talent Acquisition by Blending RPO and MSP, to learn how to optimize your talent acquisition efforts.