EMPLOYERS FACE NEW HIRING PRESSURE
With low jobless rate, candidates have their pick
As Connecticut’s unemployment rate hit a 16-year low last month, southwestern Connecticut employers say they are having to fast-track their hiring decisions to improve the odds of landing the best candidates for the jobs they need to fill.
Unemployment nationally was at 3.7 percent as of September, a level not seen since 1969, with Connecticut’s 4.2 percent jobless rate the lowest since May 2002. The state remains 12,000 jobs short of its peak employment prior to the 2009 recession.
The tightening job market has prompted some local companies to get offers out sooner than they might have otherwise in recent years to land applicants who are lining up offers from multiple businesses. Speaking at an Oct. 10 human resources forum in Norwalk sponsored by Mackey & Guasco Staffing and the CBP affiliate of Alera Group, the head of Chelsea Piers of Connecticut said the Stamford sports entertainment facility has sped its applicant evaluations in order to fill available jobs, which range from coaches and lifeguards to building technicians and Zamboni drivers.
“Because four or five years ago we had our pick, we became a little lax on the speed of acquiring our employees,” said Greta Wagner, executive director of Chelsea Piers of Connecticut. “We’d be like, ‘All right, we’ll get to them when we get to them.’ ... We’re becoming a little more efficient now, because within a day or two, they are choosing other (jobs).”
‘You have to really sell the company’
ASML site recruitment lead Sophie Wood describes the current job market as “extremely competitive” — in reference to the hiring outlook for companies rather than competition faced by job candidates, with Wood among the panelists on the CBP-Mackey & Guasco panel in Norwalk. After more than a dozen years in the Stamford office of the online search engine Indeed, Wood joined ASML in July as the semiconductor equipment manufacturing giant continues a big hiring push at its East Coast hub in Wilton, where it has grown to more than 1,600 employees.
“Obviously the employment market is extremely competitive,” Wood said. “About 10 or 12 years ago, we were in a completely different aspect where the job seekers were competing against one another for jobs at different companies. Now you have to really sell the company — you are competing with all the other companies.”
For a second straight year, recruiters on U.S. campuses reported a declining rate of offers being accepted, down nearly 4 percentage points to a 10-year low of 68 percent
according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, which cosponsored a panel for Norwalk Community College students in mid-October.
And for the first time this year, employers told NACE they now regard key job competencies like communication, analytical and team skills as more important than grade point average for new graduates, according to Matthew Brink, NACE assistant executive director who moderated the NCC panel, with internships one way to demonstrate those skills.
Retention and referrals
Job seekers, by contrast, are increasingly turning to the career website GlassDoor to evaluate potential employers, according to Lynn Gaudio, director of strategic talent solutions at SiriusDecisions in Wilton, who participated in the CBP-Mackey & Guasco panel. She said employers are increasingly monitoring GlassDoor for how they are being perceived after interviews with job applicants — and proactively taking steps to respond and engage with those individuals in the same way they might with customers on Twitter or Facebook.
“Sometimes even the not-so-good reviews, it works in our favor because I am able to respond,” Gaudio said. “It has such an impact.”
At Indeed, 30 percent of the company’s jobs are filled through referrals from its own employees, with Wood saying ASML is looking to better leverage its own grapevine through a bonus compensation program for workers whose tips lead to new hires. Equally important? Retaining the employees it has, with the company having hundreds who have been in place a decade or more even as it brings in fresh recruits monthly.
“It’s more of an effort with passive job seekers and being able to figure out who those candidates are,” Wood said. “The best ... references that you can get are from your own employees . ... Increasing that bonus structure is going to help a lot.”