INCREASE SEEN IN HR JOBS!
HR Help Wanted Job boards are seeing increases in HR postings over the past year. Searches for HR jobs are up by one-third, compared to last year when HR professionals were hit hard by the recession. The hike may not only be good news for HR, but it could also be a sign that the overall job market has turned a corner.By Jared Shelly
As a profession, HR seems to be emerging from the recession quite nicely.
Job postings for HR and recruiting positions were up 34 percent year-over-year in March and job-seeker clicks on those ads increased by 51 percent, according to Indeed.com, which aggregates employment ads from a variety of online job boards and company websites.
That's quite a change from the past few years, when HR was hit hard during the recession. In fact, more than 25 percent of HR leaders reported a reduction in HR staff during the recession, according to a study by the Harvard Business Review Analytic Services and Unum, an employee benefits provider.
Indeed began keeping tabson HR jobs in March because it "is responsible for an organization's workforce planning" and "provides a unique early indicator for the broader job market," according the company's blog.
HR's status has actually gotten a lift since the recession, according to Future of HR, a research study by John Boudreau and Edward E. Lawler III, professors at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business in Los Angeles.
It finds that 25 percent of managers said the power and status of the HR function increased since the recession, while just 7 percent said it decreased and 68 percent said it stayed the same. Nearly one-third (29 percent) said HR plays a more strategic role now, while just 3 percent said it plays a decreased role in strategy since the recession. Twenty-six percent said the effectiveness of the HR function has increased, while just 14 percent said it decreased.
Speaking at the Human Resource People and Strategy conference in April, Lawler said that businesses that could "tie talent management and talent development to the needs and business strategies [have emerged] more powerful in the organization [after the recession]. Those who couldn't, lost power."
Boudreau says he's seen more students hired into HR jobs recently, as well as an uptick in colleagues moving from consulting roles into permanent HR roles.
Recruiting and training jobs, in particular, were cut during the recession, leading many organizations to shift to shared services or outsourcing, he says. HR functions have become "lean and mean." "It'll be interesting to see if [those jobs return and] that translates into a proportional increase in HR positions," or if HR staffing remains at current levels, he says. One thing is for sure: "They probably wouldn't hire a lot of permanent HR folks if they weren't thinking there was a lasting reason to have them." The demand for HR staff is also indicative of an uptick in hiring as well as an improving economy, says John Challenger, CEO of Chicago-based global outplacement and executive-coaching firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas.
"The fact that they're hiring more of these HR people is a sign they're in the midst of, and are preparing for, more hiring to come," he says. But, these days, companies are being careful to only hire as needed.
"Companies are not hiring in advance of what they need ... ," says Challenger. "This jump in [HR] jobs is a real sign of [business] need -- in many ways [it's] a real harbinger of what's coming."
The economic outlook as a whole has been brighter, as more than 200,000 private-sector jobs were added in both February and March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"That number is the Holy Grail," says Challenger. "I think for a company, when you see those numbers, you're much more focused on recruiting, talent management, staffing, etc. It feels like the jobless recovery aftermath of the recession is over."HR hiring at the executive level is also up, says Hal Johnson, chairman of human resources for Korn/Ferry, noting the Los Angeles-based retained-search firm has experienced seven straight positive quarters, "The search business is booming ... ," says Johnson. "HR is definitely a part of that." Johnson agrees that the increased demand for HR staff shows that companies are optimistic about the economy. "It's not only hiring," he says. "[Companies are] expanding. They're hopeful that the recession is over somehow. They're funding new projects. They're opening in China."
Another reason more HR professionals are needed is to plan for a workplace change that seemed to have moved to the back burner once the recession began: baby boomers retirements.
"A lot of people who delayed decisions about retirement, who had really been sticking it out ... are now at a place where they're leaving the workforce," says Johnson. Company leaders are once again focusing on preparing for that eventuality: "Is the pipeline full? Do we have the people to grow in the future? If not, what are we doing to identify them and grow them?" he says. "That puts pressure on the HR function."
April 27, 2011
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