Second Quarter Statistics: Some Good News to be Found!

Considering the uncertain state of the economy, good news can be hard to come by.  However, we have some good news regarding our second quarter statistics.

The majority of that good news revolves around the number of Offers Accepted and Completed Placements that Preferred Members of the Network have been reporting.  (Those numbers, of course, are the ones in which recruiters are the most interested.)

After a slow start to the year, Network recruiters have been building momentum.  For example, Offers Accepted were up 16% in April over the previous year, up 83.3% in May, and up 95.8% in June.  Completed Placements, while not surging quite as much, are still increasing over time.  In fact, they were up 76.5% in May and up 39.1% in June.  And remember, these increases are in spite of the fact that there are fewer Preferred Member firms in the Network than there were a year ago.

Overall, the numbers paint a rather interesting picture through the first half of 2010.  Offers Accepted are up 26.5% since this time last year.  However, Completed Placements are down slightly (4.5%).  There are a couple of points that can be drawn from this data.  First and foremost, activity is most definitely up for Network recruiters.  Second, although companies are pulling the trigger and hiring more than they were last year, there appears to be a significant lag between the time the offer is extended and the time the recruiter receives their check.

That makes sense, when you think about it.  Companies are taking longer and longer to pay recruiters for their services.  Waiting 60, 90, or even 120 days is nothing new to recruiters.  While it seems that companies are no longer dragging their feet quite so much when it comes to hiring, it seems that they’re still dragging their feet when it comes to paying recruiters for their services.

Third, the trend when it comes to Offers Accepted and Completed Placements is upward.  There have been more Offers every month from March through June, and there have been more Completeds every month from April through June.  That indicates building surge of momentum and activity for Network recruiters, and that is most decidedly good news.

Also good news is the number of job orders that exist within the Network.  Through the second quarter of the year, that number stood at 2,220, 14% more than what existed in the Network one year ago.  Once again, that’s not a dramatic improvement—but it is an improvement—and it indicates a level of growth that one might say is more rapid than that of the general economy overall.

The bottom line for any recruiter is making placements.  That’s why they’re in business and that’s what they do.  Phone interviews are good and face-to-face interviews are great, but recruiters don’t get paid for those.  They get paid when they placement is made.  Judging by the numbers reflected in our second quarter statistics, Network recruiters appear poised to make more placements during the second half of 2010 than they did during the first . . . and more than they made during the second half of 2009.

More information regarding the second quarter statistics will be published in next week’s issue of The Pinnacle blog.