(Editor’s Note: This is the next in a series of guest blog posts about contract staffing, courtesy of Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s back-office solution.  Similar posts will appear in future issues of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.)

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 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 surprise.  While jobs lost in the recession were manual manufacturing and construction positions, employment experts have noted that job creation in the recovery is coming from the professional sector.  The unemployment numbers bear this out.  The unemployment rate for degreed, white-collar professionals has remained under 4% even as the overall rate has struggled to get just below the 8% mark.

A recent CNNMoney.com article confirms that workers with the highest levels of education are enjoying the fastest employment gains during the recovery.

“Relative demand for highly educated workers is increasing,” Brookings Institution Senior Research Associate Jonathan Rothwell told CNNMoney.com.  “There’s a long-run shift in the economy toward more professional occupations, and it’s mostly at the expense of blue-collar occupations.”

TEC’s statistics also indicate a change in attitude toward contract staffing among both professional candidates and companies.  Contractors used to be thought of mainly as “temps” working very short-term assignments in clerical and blue-collar positions.

Now companies are utilizing contractors for more long-term (six- to nine-month average) assignments in positions all the way up to the C-suite.  One trend that has come out of this is executive temping, where companies utilize contractors to serve as interim executives to complete executive-level projects or to serve as consultants.

As employers continue to find more ways to cut costs in this roller coaster economy and workers look for increased flexibility, we can only expect this trend to continue.

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888.627.3678
dfledderjohann@topecheloncontracting.com
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We’ve asked this question, but what the heck, let’s ask it again: “What’s better than making one placement?

Answer: “Making two placements!”

But what if you could make TWO placement fees on the same placement?  In other words, you place ONE candidate, and that one placement produces TWO fees.  Sounds good, does it not?

Well, that’s exactly what happens when one of your clients hires on a temp-to-direct basis.  This is how it works:

1. A client hires one of your candidates for a contract assignment.  As a result, you receive steady cash flow in the form of contract placement checks for the life of that assignment.
2. The client decides that it now wants to hire your contract candidate on a full-time basis.
3. Luckily, you have language in your Fee Agreement that dictates the client will now owe you a conversion fee for hiring the candidate on a full-time basis.
4. The client sends you a direct-hire placement fee, in addition to all of the contract placement checks you’ve been receiving.  Cha-ching!

This week in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, we have a case study about a contract-to-direct placement involving two Preferred Member recruiters.  These two recruiters have made split placements before, they know how each other likes to work, and they have a great Trading Partner relationship.

As a result, they’re not splitting one placement fee.  They’re splitting TWO placement fees instead!

For more information about how you can add contract staffing to your business model and increase your firm’s monthly revenue, contact Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s back-office solution.

Forget about exercising in the New Year . . . make contract placements instead!

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<“Thank you, Bill, for an excellent candidate and being a SUPER exporter in 2012!”

Submitted by Maria Hemminger of MJ Recruiters LLC regarding her split placement with Bill Quackenbush, CPC/CTS of QCI Technical Staffing

Position Title—MANUFACTURING ENGINEER
Fee Percentage—20%

(Editor’s note: this is the fifth split placement that Hemminger and Quackenbush have made together in Top Echelon Network.)

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330.455.1433, x125
MDeutsch@TopEchelon.com
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(Editor’s Note: This is the next in a series of guest blog posts about contract staffing, courtesy of Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s back-office solution.  Similar posts will appear in future issues of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.)

The American economy is teetering on the edge of the “Fiscal Cliff,” but that doesn’t mean your job orders have to go over with it.

If Congress can’t come to an agreement by December 31, across-the-board tax increases and government funding cuts will automatically go into effect.  Many experts are predicting that if something isn’t done by December 31, the United States could go into another recession.  With that threat looming, many employers are taking a wait-and-see-approach to hiring.

According to a recent Staffing Stream article, “Reducing Fear of the Fiscal Cliff,” it’s not that employers don’t want to hire.  In fact, 58% of executives surveyed by Korn/Ferry International say they intend to increase hiring in the next 12 months.  However, they are not going to start that hiring until the future is more certain.

That is obviously bad news for recruiters who depend on direct hiring for their livelihoods.  But there is some good news. The Staffing Stream article suggests that contingent staffing may see a boost as a result of this situation.  The article predicts that temporary/contract staffing in 2013 will be especially strong for information technology, marketing, and engineering.  After all, regardless of their fears of the future, employers need to have enough staff to handle today’s business demands.

Contract staffing allows them to get the help they need now without the commitment of a direct hire.  Rather than having to conduct mass layoffs if the economy does indeed go over the cliff, they will be able to simply end the workers’ contract assignments.  Plus, they won’t have the burden of unemployment, Workers’ Compensation, or benefits.

So if you have clients who need to hire, but are reluctant to do so due to the economic uncertainty, you may want to suggest that they bring in contractors.  And don’t worry if you have never placed contractors.

All you need is a good contract staffing back-office, such as Top Echelon Contracting, to become the legal W-2 Employer of Record for your contractors.  By partnering with a contracting back-office, all you have to worry about is recruiting.  The back-office will handle all of the legal, financial, and administrative details.

What will happen with the economy in 2013 is anyone’s guess.  But by adding contract staffing to your business model, you can be ready for whatever comes along.

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888.627.3678
DFledderjohann@TopEchelonContracting.com
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