Employment agencies take active approach when facing low unemployment rates

CEDAR RAPIDS — The war for talent.

That's how some employment and staffing agencies in the Corridor are describing the current situation they're facing with the lower-than-ever unemployment rates.

'It's creating a challenge for us to find the talent,' admitted Anthony Arrington, branch manager of the Manpower office in Cedar Rapids.

Agencies in the Iowa City and Cedar Rapids area have found demand for job candidates has not changed among their clients, so the drop in the number of individuals actually seeking jobs has made a number of agencies rethink their recruiting strategies.

The unemployment rate in Cedar Rapids stood at 3.6 percent as of May of this year and the Iowa City rate stands even lower at 2.5 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Iowa's overall unemployment rate stood at 3.9 percent that same month.

By contrast, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the national unemployment rate rose to 4.9 percent in June from 4.7 percent in May.

Recruitment techniques

This challenge has left agencies such as Manpower 'mission critical,' Branch Manager Anthony Arrington said.

The majority of businesses in the Corridor seek to fulfill positions in manufacturing, clerical or information technology, agency officers say. The Manpower office in Cedar Rapids places the majority of its clients in these fields.

Lori Smith, the regional manager at Kelly Services, an agency with offices in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, said information technology is an area of highest demand for their offices.

Iowa City's Team Staffing Solutions, Inc. Branch Manager Kelsey Speed said about 75 percent of the individuals its places possess a trade skill such as welding.

To make matters more complicated, candidates with a valuable skill set have an unemployment rate of one percent or less. This is the case for the engineering sector, said Curt Van Order, the account manager for the engineering division of Aerotek, which has an office in Hiawatha.

'For the most part, we're having to seek out and find those individuals,' Van Order said. 'In the engineering world, they are not unemployed right now.'

Managers and other officials in employment agencies in the area said the combination of low unemployment and lack of available talent is forcing agencies to be creative and far more active in luring potential employees.

That's why Mike Gremmer, regional vice president at Robert Half, said it's all about speed to the market.

'The agency that has the best talent will win,' Gremmer said. 'So we have to be the best at getting, keeping and getting the talent in front of the client.'

Accountemps is a Robert Half division with an office in Cedar Rapids. The staffing and employment agency Robert Half recruits individuals with a skills in specific job markets including accounting, finance and technology.

Gara Small is a controller with Sun and Fun Motorsports in Iowa City, who was placed by Accountemps in a temporary position in July 2014. She later was hired permanently by the motorcycle dealership.

'I was familiar and comfortable in working for a small business, so (Accountemps) worked with me to find that,' Small said.

Gremmer said it's important for recruiters at staffing and employment agencies to move quickly. The process to fill a position at the Robert Half division has been streamlined, now taking about four to five weeks from the initial application to the placement.

Recruiters still rely on traditional marketing strategies, such as billboard ads, to improve their brand name. Speed said her staff also actively attends career fairs, including on college campuses.

However, Corridor agencies have started to rely more heavily on social media platforms such as LinkedIn and other social networking sites.

One approach in these candidate-starved times calls for reaching out to individuals who meet a company's requirements, even though they're currently employed. Aerotek recruiters call such as a potential candidate a 'passive job seeker.'

In addition, following job placements or temporary assignments, agencies reach out to individuals for follow-ups, ensuring the candidate is a good fit for the company.

'Since the talent is so short, once you have it, you have to keep it,' Arrington said.

'I think we have to, more than ever, build long-term relationships and know that it's going to be the norm to have a conversation with someone and not have a position for them,' said Ben Rohan, director of business operations at Aerotek. 'But we spend a lot of time with them getting to know what their goals, skills and interests are. It may be six or nine months before we have an opportunity to place that person, but we'll know what they want.'

Aerotek managers say referrals are the agency's biggest source of business, so having industry expertise and building relationships through customer service is key to a successful strategy.

'The more emphasis we put on customer service in general, ultimately it trickles down to a lot more business,' Van Order said.

Overall, Smith said agencies are seeing potential candidates that span across demographics.

Moving online

Most agencies in the Corridor operate almost entirely online. 95 percent of the work to place a candidate is a position is automated at Manpower, Arrington said.

Although agency officers stress the importance of meeting with the public face-to-face to get individuals through their door, recruiters are willing to bend the rules for candidates once an application process begins.

If they didn't want to or didn't need to, Gremmer said recruiters at Accountemps wouldn't see the candidate in person, thanks to online options.

But while agencies traditionally have required potential employees to step foot in a brick-and-mortar building to meet with the recruiter in person, officials at Robert Half, for one, have conducted some interviews via Skype for some prospects.

Gremmer said the agency also now allows candidates to take skills tests in their own home.

More direct-hires start at temp agencies

While employment agencies still work to fill employees in temporary positions, companies are using agencies to help find a candidate for permanent positions. Often these positions are individuals with a specific skill set the business needs — such as a heavy-machine operator or a grant writer.

At Team Staffing Solutions Inc., about 75 percent of its clients seek those for the skilled trade.

Robert Half also seeks individuals for executive positions such as chief operating officer or chief financial officer.

The most common position filled in the Cedar Rapids metro area is in the manufacturing sector. Recruiters at Manpower, an employment agency with an office in Cedar Rapids that provides a mix of temporary placement and direct-to-hires, most often look for candidates who can fill positions as machinists.

It is more common today to be hired through a staffing agency than it was only a few years ago.

The employment agency Aerotek has seen a rising trend in their direct-hire placements since the office went into business in 2007. In 2014, 23 individuals were hired directly from the agency's Hiawatha office, according to Curt Van Order, the account manager for the engineering division. In 2015, 321 people were hired.