Hiring Report Provides Light at the End of the Tunnel
For this week's post, I wanted to share this study from Bernhart Associates with you. It's good news for once! It looks like there's an uptick in direct marketing hiring:
Confidence Returning to Job Market for Digital and Direct Marketers
Layoffs drop to pre-recession low; employers expanding use of social networking for hiring
Owatonna, MN, April 7, 2010 — Digital and direct marketing job seekers can expect a spring thaw in layoffs and hiring freezes, according to the latest quarterly employment report by Bernhart Associates Executive Search, LLC.
“Employers are still being cautious when it comes to making hiring decisions, with half expecting no change in hiring plans for the coming quarter. However, we’re seeing more job stability, and employers continue to lift their hiring freezes,” said Jerry Bernhart, Principal of Bernhart Associates Executive Search, LLC, a leading recruiting firm which has been conducting quarterly hiring surveys in digital and direct marketing since 2001.
A total of 454 organizations responded to the employment trends survey between March 23 and April 7. Here are the key findings from the second quarter survey:
- 43 percent of respondents said they'll add to staff during the second quarter of 2010, down three points from Q1;
- 20 percent of respondents currently have a hiring freeze, a dramatic decline from 45 percent just six months ago;
- the percentage of companies planning layoffs in Q2 fell to 3 percent, the lowest level in three years; and
- when asked if they plan to consider using social networking websites for hiring, 41 percent of respondents said they plan to employ them in “moderate amounts” during 2010, while only 14 percent said they won’t be using social networks at all.
“Just a year ago, I was seeing reports indicating that hardly any companies were thinking about using social media in their recruiting,” said Bernhart. “Our second quarter survey results show that interest in these online networks among digital and direct marketers has grown quickly and considerably, especially among agencies."
Jim Gilbert has had a storied career in direct and digital marketing resulting in a burning desire to tell stories that educate, inform, and inspire marketers to new heights of success.
After years of marketing consulting, Jim decided it was time to “put his money where his mouth was" and build his own e-commerce company, Premo Natural Products, with its flagship product, Premo Guard Bed Bug & Mite Sprays. Premo in its second year is poised to eclipse 100 percent growth.
Jim has been writing for Target Marketing Group since 2006, first on the pages of Catalog Success Magazine, then as the first blogger for its online division. Jim continues to write for Total Retail.
Along the way, Jim has led the Florida Direct Marketing Association as their Marketing Chair and then three-term President, been an Adjunct Professor of Direct and Digital marketing for Miami International University, and created a lecture series, “The 9 Immutable Laws of Social Media Marketing,” which he has presented across the country at conferences and universities.
