surveyed over 31,000 recruiters and 6,900 job candidates and human resources managers who had worked with recruitment agencies.along with the job market. Since then, though, demand has surged, and Richard Wahlquist, president and chief executive officer of the American Staffing Association, the trade association representing the industry, says recruiters have been laser-focused on getting people back to work.
But rebuilding the U.S. workforce hasn’t been as simple as pressing play after a pause, he says. Many of those returning to work are doing so amid a new normal, while others are changing course and embracing new career paths. And after working from home for more than two years, some aren’t ready to return to the office—and are willing to change employers to avoid having to do so.
At Robert Half, keeping the playbook fresh is top of mind for its senior executive director, Paul McDonald. With a history that spans three quarters of a century and a full-time payroll that exceeds 14,000, the Menlo Park-based firm—which earned the No. 1 spot on each of our three lists—is one of the biggest players in the recruiting game. McDonald, who has been with the firm for half its history, says technology, a medium in which change is the only constant, has been critical to keeping pace.
“It’s very effective—even in this tight labor market—in getting them to apply to our jobs,” Waddell said before teasing the release of a new feature that will predict candidates’ responsiveness based on their job-search activity. “In this market, the candidate side is everything.”