INDIA – SIX MEN ARRESTED FOR RUNNING FAKE RECRUITMENT AGENCY

A racket of fake recruitment agencies were busted in Hyderabad, India and six people were arrested for allegedly cheating unemployed youths by promising jobs in Gulf countries after taking money from them.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner's Task Force raided the fake recruiting agencies and are accused of cheating unemployed youths and carrying on the business of recruitment for deployment of Indian workers with foreign employers without any permission from Protector General of Emigration, Ministry of External Affairs.

Police seized 44 Indian passports, applications/bio-data and medical reports, forms of applicants, and other incriminating material from their possession. The accused collected amounts and passports for "visa processing", but they did not provide any visas and jobs to the them and also they did not return their passports and money. They also sent some innocent people to Dubai for job by giving visiting visa. However, some job aspirants managed to return with great difficulty to their native places from Dubai and Saudi Arabia after they were given fake visas, police added.

Recruitment agencies fear chef shortage over Christmas

Restaurants and hospitality firms could struggle this Christmas because of a shortage of trained chefs.

A study by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) found there has been an increased demand from hospitality recruitment agencies for qualified chefs over the past three years.

However, of the 46 agencies questioned, nine out of 10 believed there was not enough trained chefs to meet demand.

They also fear potential changes to immigration policies could make the skills shortage worse.

REC Chief executive Kevin Green said: "As we approach the festive season the shortage of chefs is causing real headaches for restaurants. Training and progression needs to be improved so that more people are encouraged to become chefs.

"That's a longer term fix, but there's an immediate skills crisis which needs to be addressed. Any restrictions on access to chefs from the EU, such as a salary threshold for work visas, will only exacerbate the problem.

"Without a supply of chefs to meet growing demand, restaurants, bars and hotels will have to pay more for their staff and it's likely that these costs will be passed on to the customer. We may even see restaurants close their doors if they can't remain competitive and profitable."

In the gig economy, recruitment agencies are the gangmasters

Recruitment agency: an organisation that matches employers to employees and vice versa; an intermediary in the labour market” – or so the dictionary tells us. But, given recent findings that agencies are using aggressive tax avoidance schemes at a time when new benefit caps are driving single parents into poverty; that some agencies have conned low-paid temporary workers into buying worthless accident insurance; and, from my own research, that agencies are enabling the undercutting of workers’ rights and wages by pitting migrant workers against local people, it would be truer to life if we described recruitment agencies as arbiters of capitalism and the mass exploitation of workers.

It is estimated that recruitment agencies employ 1.2 million people every day. Agencies are now the vehicle by which desperate workers are driven into the arms of exploitative employers, and they are fundamental to understanding the new age of precarity in the labour market and the “gig economy”.

There are hundreds of examples – from Sports Direct to NHS cleaners – of agencies actively undermining the rights of employees. One recent case was brought to light by the trade union GMB. Agency workers at an Asos warehouse in Grimethorpe, South Yorkshire, are being subject to a “flexing clause”, which employers argue was introduced to help manage peak times and quiet periods.

What it actually means is that workers can arrive at the warehouse only to be told they will be starting two hours later (with these two hours unpaid), or indeed work two hours later in the evening. When workers refuse, they are disciplined. This practice can cause a great deal of stress – particularly for those with childcare commitments. These flex contracts are likely to be in breach of employment law because it means workers aren’t actually being paid the minimum wage.

This story won’t come as a surprise. We have known that recruitment agencies have been the pimps of the labour market for some time. What the Guardian’s new investigation has found is that they are not only promoting the use of temporary and zero-hours contracts where they are not appropriate, but using aggressive tax avoidance schemes that are depriving the taxpayer of hundreds of millions of pounds a year.


What a time for these findings to come to light. Earlier this month, a new benefits cap was introduced which reduces the household benefit cap from £26,000 to £20,000 outside London, affecting more than 80,000 households, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The new work and pensions secretary, Damian Green, has also confirmed that the government will be making the £3.4bn cuts to universal credit planned by the last parliament, despite fears that it will push working families into poverty, and protests by backbench Tory MPs. Recruitment agencies are therefore robbing workers of a decent standard of living in two ways: directly, through undermining rights and pay, and indirectly by contributing to the demise of social security and our public services.

This is maddening. Just like Mike Ashley, Philip Green and other fat cat capitalists, this is this sort of behaviour that reminds us how the economy is no longer serving everyday people.

There is another, relatively unexplored problem that recruitment agencies have created: friction between migrant and local workers. In 2009, I carried out some research in Hull, where there were a growing number of Polish migrants working in factories via recruitment agencies, especially in food packing and processing.

At one agency, a lead recruiter was candid about the way in which the agency focused on recruiting only Polish and eastern European workers. This, she said, was in response to business demands for workers with “a stronger work ethic”. When pushed further, she admitted that Polish workers were less likely to demand higher wages and to know the rights temporary workers were entitled to.

When I spoke to local people, they were all too aware that agencies were not taking them on, and were justifiably angry. At the time I couldn’t foresee how much such outcomes – which are due to lack of employment safeguards, rather than immigration per se – would fuel anti-immigration sentiments in the years to come.

It is therefore odd that while immigration has become a growing public concern, recruitment agencies have continued to flourish. At the Centre for Labour and Social Studies conference last month, the general secretary of the Unite union, Len McCluskey, spoke of this race to the bottom culture, calling for us to focus on safeguards for workers, and proposing that any employer wishing to recruit labour abroad could only do so if they are either covered by a proper union agreement, or by sectoral collective bargaining. Such solutions get to the heart of problems in the labour market and would help us move away from an unhelpful and misleading focus on the number of immigrants.

Of course, we must acknowledge that some progress has been made on the rights of agency workers – through holiday pay legislation, for example. However, such legislation is itself used for abusive ends. For example, the Agency Workers Regulations were introduced to ensure equality of pay for long-term temporary workers compared with their permanent counterparts. Instead, this legislation has been used as a means of undercutting permanent staff.

It is important to remember, however, that not all recruitment agencies are the same. Unfortunately for the good ones, the worst have damaged the reputation of the industry. Recruitment agencies do not simply represent a cog in the capitalist system, but rather the oil that allows it to function. When faced with all the challenges of the labour market, it can be overwhelming. But having been reminded of the many ways in which agencies are abusing workers, and how far they have veered from their supposed original purpose, it’s clear where our battle must begin.

3 Steps to Start Integrating Talent Management With Your Global Mobility Function

As the global talent war continues to heat up, it is becoming more important than ever for companies to have an effective global talent strategy in place to ensure the right talent is in the right place at the right time to take advantage of global business opportunities. In order to achieve this goal hr will need to take the lead in integrating talent management principles and processes into the global mobility function. In this article I outline 3 simple steps to getting the global mobility function on track to start driving the talent agenda, with closer integration with the talent management function, workforce planning and aligning closer to business strategy.

Step 1 - Who's who!!!

First of all you will need to determine where the talent management function sits within the organization and who the key players are. This may seem very basic but in a highly matrixed organization common with many large MNCs, determining who is driving talent management for the business can be very confusing. In the ideal scenario you will have a defined talent management function with clear talent management roles. However it is often the case that talent management may be one of many hats that a HRBP or manager may wear within their role. Typically a Talent Management Community (TMC) will exist however which links these individuals together and this is what global mobility will need to connect into. A good place to start is at the top, with either the Head of Talent and Acquisition or HR Lead, seeking their assistance to get you connected with the key talent leaders in their org. From there you will be able to make the introductions and forge the relationships.

Once you have identified who is who, it will be important for both sides to educate the other on what they do in the company. Present to the TMC on the global mobility function, including where you sit within the organization, structure of the team, key focus areas as well as the key strategy, vision and core principles. Also a brief overview of the framework and key drivers for talent movement will help the TMC visualize how they will be able to collaborate and what tools Global Mobility has to help them with their talent objectives. In return the TMC can present to the global mobility team on their function and business objectives, prompting a dialogue on effective collaboration.

Step 2 - Build the relationship

Once you know who is who, then it's time to start building the relationship and determining the connection points. This may involve setting up a regular cadence of meetings, potentially timed around other rhythms of the business, such as people review, workforce planning, budgeting, etc. You may choose to appoint one member of the team to take the lead in driving the meetings and agenda. As you build the relationship it will be important to ask the following types of questions:

How can global mobility assist with talent planning?
What are the logical connection points we should be making?
What can global mobility do to support you?
How can we integrate mobility into our talent management and development programs?
How does global mobility get the right data to become less reactive?
What data can we provide the TMC for better talent planning?
What is the organization's view on globally mobile talent?

During a recent client engagement, feedback from the Talent Leader summarized how mobility can integrate into the talent management process and help provide solutions "The Global Mobility Team has encouraged the TMC to continue to think about how to use different mobility options (including short term assignments and rotations) to build the global experiences of our senior talent as part of their career development."

Step 3 - Add value - metrics, tracking and reporting

As you build the relationship you will be able to determine the metrics and reporting data that will help support the partnership and enable more informed talent and business decisions, as well as incorporating talent management best practices into the mobility process. The complexity of reporting will depend on the HRIT systems an organization uses and the ease of pulling data on global employees. High end systems are able to provide customized reporting, whereas smaller companies may need to rely on manual reporting and spreadsheets. At the basic level, a Talent Leader at a large MNC states, "There is a strong need to get visibility of the mobile talent out on assignment, i.e. who and where this talent is and when the assignment is coming to an end. This will help to plan next roles and identify developmental opportunities for senior talent." At the more sophisticated end, the global mobility team can develop a mobility dashboard or mobile talent portfolio, showing reports and graphics outlining key metrics such as volume, cost, exceptions, performance, attrition, feedback, etc. Another opportunity is to use the reporting tools of your relocation management company, who can typically report on relocation and assignment costs, exceptions, employee feedback and track immigration and lease deadlines. Such reporting can typically be negotiated as a free value add for regional or global engagements

Once the relationship is in place with the right tools to support the partnership, global mobility will find itself playing a more strategic role within the company. Through increased branding and education, business leads and hr will start inviting global mobility to the table early as a proactive partner to help shape business and talent decisions, as opposed to a reactive role often taken by mobility teams today!

Restoring the Trust Between Clients, Candidates and Executive Recruiters

Recently, a client asked me; "What is the single biggest competitive challenge your company faces?" I thought for a moment and then answered, "It is the pervasive negative perception of executive search and the tarnished reputation of the executive search business."

Candidates tell us they feel treated like commodities and traded for a fee. Line managers frequently comment that search firms rarely have real knowledge about their business, their industry and/or the commercial issues facing their industry or company. What's more, the person who sells the assignment is often not the person who does the work. Line managers, HR professionals and candidates all perceive a general unwillingness by search consultants, including those from the big firms, to invest the time and energy necessary to really understand the client's business. As a result, positions are not really as represented and candidates are not as expected. The relationship of trust between clients, candidates and recruiters is damaged.

The feelings of clients and candidates applies to all types of search firms, retained as well as contingent; and all sizes of firms, large brand names and small boutiques. Many of the metrics typically used to evaluate search firms have little bearing on the quality of future service provided. A long list of prior assignments is no guarantee of future performance. Standard selection processes such as beauty parades, preferred provider lists and placement history may be convenient and easy to use, but they are, at best, poor measures of future service quality or assignment success. What should line managers, their HR partners and candidates expect from executive search firms?

The only way to establish trust is for clients and candidates to experience a quality search process. And that requires time, energy and commitment on the part of everyone involved in the process. So how does one identify a quality search process?

A quality search process begins with knowledge about the client and a commitment to client service. This means line managers and HR professionals need to find executive recruiters willing to commit the time and intellectual capital to get to know and understand the client's business and company. Specifically, they need to find search consultants who will do fresh research on the industry, the manager's line of business and competitors.

HR professionals should remember that when a recruiter says, "I know the market," he or she often means, "I know some people in your business." It does not necessarily mean, "I know and understand your business and the challenges and issues you are facing." Nor does it mean the consultants are willing and able to obtain the knowledge and understanding required to effectively complete an assignment.

A quality search process requires clarity about what the client really wants and why. In our experience, it takes a number of thoughtful and probing conversations to fully explore the scope of what a client wants from a particular role. This requires both time and effort on the part of the line manager, HR and the search consultant. This is not easy, but it is very important because, to get the search right, you have to get what the client really wants right.

The search consultants must be able to write a document which clearly articulates knowledge of the company, clarity about the position, understanding of the culture of the company and the specific performance expectations of the client. Putting the scope of the role down in writing, allows the line manager and the HR partner to be sure the search firm understands what is needed. It also allows everyone involved in the process to clarify any ambiguity, carefully consider exactly what they expect from a position, and resolve contradictions between the expectations for the role and the specific measures of success. A quality recruiter should be willing and able to do this before the search begins.

HR professionals will know this is done properly when the line manager, as well as everyone else involved in the hiring process, can read the final document and say, "This is exactly what we want and if you bring us someone who fits this document we will hire them." Potential qualified candidates should react to the document by saying, "I know exactly what they want to do, why they want to do it, what it takes to do the job and how performance will be measured. This document is clear and specific."

Most clients and candidates experience the process of executive search as bumpy and chaotic, which leaves everyone feeling uncomfortable. Many recruiters stumble from candidate to candidate, working their existing network of contacts or some internal database. When these efforts lead to dead ends, the search grinds to a halt. Both clients and candidates are left to question the value provided by the recruiter.

Quality search consultants understand that a strong search process has structure for the search firm and transparency for the client. It allows the client-both line manager and HR professional-to have timely input, provide valuable guidance, help steer and direct the search, and ensure a successful outcome. It requires a team effort. Any issue, confusion or misunderstanding must quickly surface and be resolved. Lack of commitment and engagement by the client is the best way to ensure poor search results. A well-defined process with clear benchmarks and deliverables at each critical step is the optimal way to keep an assignment on track towards success.

There is a point in a search process where focus shifts from the client to the candidate. Culture and chemistry are why a candidate succeeds in a given position. The candidate with the best cultural fit with the company and ease with the style of management will be most likely to succeed. It is always a mistake to place any candidate, who is not a good fit for the company, the manager and the role. And these concerns are just as important for any candidate.

When it comes to candidates, we are in the business of dreams, aspirations and ambitions. If we can match these dimensions with the strategic and tactical objectives of a client, the results are always powerful. Consequently, our focus is on developing a holistic view of candidates, in terms of their lives, not just their professional interests. We also caution candidates, that if for any reason they hear a little voice telling them that something is not right, to tell us. The process stops until that voice is carefully heard.

Fees are probably the most volatile issue. The rage clients feel is profound. They become angry when they have paid an entire fee upfront only to have the search drag on for months with few quality candidates and sometimes no placement. Quality search consultants get paid as they perform. They believe clients should not pay full fees for assignments that are not completed. Honest and fair dealing is important for both the client and the search consultant.

On the other hand, when the circumstances of a position change, clients must be open with the search consultant and the candidates about the change and the reason for the change. Problems and issues with the role or the company need to be disclosed up front as the assignment begins, not once the candidate joins the firm. Many search consultants feel angry when clients and their HR professionals try to hire candidates presented behind the search firm's back, attempt to renegotiate fees and/or reinterpret retainer agreements after candidates have been hired.

Clients should be charged for work performed based on agreed objectives and benchmarks. In return, clients and their HR partners have an obligation to work openly, honestly and diligently with their service provider to facilitate the completion of the assignment.

There are many good professional search firms dedicated to quality service and strong client relationships. Clients should be open with these firms, share issues and concerns, allow these firms to help them and, finally, let them demonstrate the level and quality of service they can provide. We want relationships with its clients. This means we will do what is right and best for our clients, and we hope and expect that our clients will do the same in return.

LinkedIn Q3 sales up 23% to $960M in its last earnings ahead of MSFT acquisition

Microsoft expects to close its $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn by the end of this year — pending some final regulatory approvals — and so, in light of that, today LinkedIn posted a very basic earnings report for Q3. It’s also skipping the customary analyst call and is no longer providing financial guidance for the coming quarter.

Still, the company reported growth in its key metrics, a positive note for the next stage ahead. Revenues for the third quarter were $960 million, up 23 percent on a year ago; earnings per share were $1.18 (versus $0.78 in Q3 last year) with non-GAAP net income at $163 million; and membership numbers were up 18 percent to 467 million. The financial numbers beat analysts’ projections: on average, they were expecting revenues of $959 million and EPS of $0.91. Mobile now accounts for 60 percent of all traffic to LinkedIn, the company said, growing at double the rate of its desktop service.

“In Q3, continued product investments across our platform drove another quarter of strong engagement and financial performance,” said Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn. “As we look forward, our combination with Microsoft creates the opportunity for us to dramatically increase the impact and scale with which we deliver value to our members and customers.”

The company has continued to provide updates to its products in areas like education and recruitment, two lines of business that I expect will continue to run as they are today, but also see increasing integration with Microsoft products and services, too.

Breaking out the segments, LinkedIn’s recruitment business, Talent Solutions, continues to make up the majority of its revenue, up 24 percent year-over-year to $623 million, with only $67 million of that coming from learning solutions (the Lynda.com business).

Its ad business, Marketing Solutions, brought in $175 million, while premium subscriptions brought in $162 million, with Sales Navigator (also a key product for Microsoft in its bid to compete with Salesforce) the strongest premium subscription product.

Tech gains: Clyde Marine Recruitment confident innovations will enable it to stay ahead of competitors

A pioneer in using digital seafarer employment agreements, CMR is working with its Singapore partner Connectdott to launch a document management system and mobile application My-Ankaa.com

In the bespoke marine recruitment business, trust, flexibility and knowledge of local networks are keys to success and longevity. Sharpened by experience and trusted by leading international shipping companies, family-owned crew management and recruitment services company Clyde Marine Recruitment (CMR) has nurtured lasting relationships with clients across Europe and Asia for more than three decades.

While the global shipping industry is experiencing turbulent times, CMR anticipates an eventual awakening in most shipping sectors particularly offshore. The company is therefore focusing on technological innovations to drive the future of recruitment within the marine sector, and possibly looking to use this platform in other industry sectors once established.

“The whole shipping market has changed massively in recent years in terms of seafarer demographic and statutory requirements, creating significant hurdles,” says Ian Livingstone, managing director. “There are many challenges, but when the market improves and that will happen, companies will need qualified people quickly to mobilise stacked vessels, and CMR will be there, ready to provide whatever requirements the industry may have.”

A pioneer in using digital seafarer employment agreements, CMR is working with its Singapore partner Connectdott to launch a document management system and mobile application My-Ankaa.com. This system will provide individuals and companies easy access to document portfolios including verification, alert systems and other features designed for seafaring by seafarers.

CMR delivers long- and short-term crew solutions promptly, and has carved a niche in providing marine specialists to all areas of the industry. Clients include P&O Ferries, DFDS, Northern Marine Group, MMA Offshore, Clyde Blowers Capital, Louis Dreyfus Armateurs and BP Maritime Services.

“Innovation will keep us ahead of competitors,” Livingstone says. “Our goal is to always find the right crew the first time, every time. Clients tend to stick with us for a long time because we’ve established and tailored relevant solutions.”

Recruitment in a Time of Consolidation

The "cost synergies" analog companies promote to their investors when Big Companies merge can be interpreted as a head-count reduction, which will likely affect engineers. EE Times approached one of the industry's best-known recruiters for comment.

It’s become a hard job, confirmed Gary Fowler, president and founder of Analog Solutions http://www.analogsolutions.com/, one of the semiconductor industry’s best-known recruiters. After 10 years in power management — tracking power management technologies, products, and the engineers who make it work ― the recruitment business has come to a screeching halt.

Blame consolidation, Fowler says.

The movement of engineers between companies has slowed considerably, if not entirely stopped. The Big Companies, many even bigger as a consequence of an acquisition, are still taking inventory. Sure, Linked-In is still collecting resumes, Fowler acknowledges, but there may be only a half-dozen “real jobs” out there. And while compensation for analog engineers may be quite substantial, they have little incentive to move.

Fowler sees his business as one of building relationships: not just identifying the “Best Talent” for a particular project, but understanding engineers’ career paths and recognizing what types of opportunities will entice them. In the current environment, engineers have little incentive to leave their current jobs. There may 30 new projects for which semiconductor makers are seeking stateside help, but that number may shrink as the newly merged companies look for places to cut.

Big Companies seek cost synergies
This year there has seen a shocking number of acquisitions, many on an unprecedented scale, and many ― like the acquisition of Freescale by NXP ― touting “cost synergies.” This can be understood as dramatic cost reductions: a sell-off of redundant fabs, a shrinking of the administrative staff, and ― for engineers ― a curtailment of risky projects.

The consolidation has been especially strong among analog companies. The acquisition of Freescale by NXP (though NXP elected to sell-off an otherwise lucrative “standard products” business to a Chinese holding company) created a $9.8-billion entity. Now Qualcomm has closed a deal to acquire the new NXP.

Other analog acquisitions (completed or still “in the works”) include:

• ON Semiconductor’s acquisition of Fairchild Semiconductor for $2.4 billion (with ON Semiconductor selling its IGBT transistor line to Littlefuse)
• Avago’s acquisition of Broadcom (for $37 billion)
• Analog Devices proposal to acquire Linear Technology Corp. for $14.8 (an incredibly large multiple for LTC)

Not be overlooked is

• Microchip outbid Dialog in the purchase of Atmel for $3.6 billion
• Intel’s acquisition Altera for $16.7 billion
• Infineon’s purchase of Wolfspeed (for a puny $850 million)
• Renesas bought Intersil for $3.2 billion

Wall Street has always been a dominant influence the semiconductor industry, with financial analysts telling semiconductor companies what kinds of products they should be making, and what kinds of margins they should be generating. Analog companies, with 65% and 70% gross margins, have long been a favorite among investors. But keeping those margins up in the current environment forces management to monitor productivity fiercely. Some engineers may be old enough to remember Friday afternoon beer blasts, when every week broke a new sales record, or three-hour Friday lunches. The same engineers now recognize that — counted in dollars and cents — that what investors are likely to allow these days is little more than a trip to the lobby vending machine. The target revenue per employee ― my guess ― is roughly $300 thousand. Otherwise, your company might be a serious contender for (let’s call it) “margin improvement.”

Just think what your job would be like if Apple acquired Broadcom, Gary Fowler invites.

The job has changed…
The nature of analog design has changed: It is no longer in the hands of the “analog artist,” the creative soul who could single-handedly invent and support an entire product line. The image of that kind of work style was forever punctured by the premature deaths of Bob Pease and Jim Williams.

The design of mixed-signal ICs is largely a team project supported by an array of EDA tools, but also programming tools for the firmware that embodies the “intelligence” everyone knows the mixed-signal part must now contain. The new assignments are in apps engineering, embedded software, and verification. And these assignments expand the capabilities of hardware (SoC) design.

It is not just the ARM integrators the new engineer needs to please. What becomes of your job when Apple or Google or SoftBank decide — for whatever reasons — they need to bring a semiconductor operation in-house. (The “Big Guys” ― Apple, Samsung, Microsoft ― have their own design teams, Fowler believes.) How does it feel when your job definition is three levels of management down the chief of product definition? He speculates. Are you considered an “Analog Wizard,” capable of realizing the electronics for a “talking room,” a “driverless car,” or some other seeming absurdity? Or, third level down, are you told to go look after your 14nm CMOS or otherwise mind your own business?

The compensation, even on the this level, can be quite enticing, Fowler acknowledges. You can get paid every penny Wall Street expects you to generate for your company. But work like you’re in a startup ― but you don’t get to go home at night until well after 8-pm

The only large-scale hiring (and not necessarily the greatest wage rate) is now in Asia, Fowler believes. The stateside analog talent market, Gary says, has become “horrendous.” With the billion-dollar company purchases, there may be only a small number “real jobs” remaining, the recruiter tells us.

Correction (Oct 31, 12:28 PM Pacific): We changed the bulleted list: Author Stephan Ohr added "Renesas bought Intersil for $3.2 billion" and corrected an error: "Dialog's acquisition of Atmel (an IoT play) for $4.6 billion" changed to "Microchip outbid Dialog in the purchase of Atmel for $3.6 billion".

MBO for £17m turnover recruitment business

MBO for £17m turnover recruitment business

The senior team of Essential Recruitment have completed a multi-million-pound management buyout from founder and majority shareholder Gary Wilson.

Established in 2006, the £17m turnover Chesterfield-based firm manages temporary workforces for more than 200 clients in the Yorkshire and East Midlands regions. It operates from an eight-branch network, supplying more than 1000 temporary staff each week.

The senior management team comprising Marc Orli, Kristyan Rachael, Carl Wootton, Lisa Hadfield and Alison Wilby plan further expansion from both the existing branch network and from additional locations.

Hawsons Chartered Accountants provided lead advisory (Pete Wilmer) and tax advisory (Peter Kennan) services for the deal.

Pete Wilmer, corporate finance partner for Hawsons, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with the management team over recent months in making their aspiration of company ownership a reality. The breadth of skills and expertise which the team possess gives me every confidence in the ongoing success of Essential Recruitment.”

Barclays Corporate Banking (Nick Salmons, relationship director and Julie Bennett, business development manager) provided funding facilities for the transaction while legal advice to the management team was provided by Nabarro (Gareth Saynor, partner, and Caroline Walker, associate).

Russell Thompson of Massers Solicitors acted on behalf of the vendor.

Boss takes staff on holiday as work perk

An HR advisory firm practiced what it preaches by tweaking its bonus model to include an all-staff getaway reward/

Scottish employment law advisory firm, Solve, revamped the idea of a bonus scheme by taking all its staff on a sun-kissed holiday to reward excellent performance.

The company's directors paid £5000 to take the seven-strong team on a four-day trip to the Algarve in Portugal after they helped steer the firm to its £300,000 turnover target.

Founding director Stephanie Robinson launched the business in 2011 to help clients unlock the benefits of good HR, which includes keeping staff happy and boosting productivity. 

But it was an anecdote from her father which inspired her to use the promise of a sunny getaway to bond and motivate her own team.

“My dad catered for major functions and used to tell me about a huge event he was involved with for a big American company in the 1980s. The company brought all of its sales staff and their wives to Scotland," Robinson said.

The idea was they would reward their top performing people by taking them around all of Scotland’s most prestigious venues and give them a 'money can’t buy' experience. That would reinforce that their company was a fabulous place to work and to drive growth.

It also incentivised staff to look forward to a similar trip the following year, allowing them to retain their best talent.

“With my own business I was determined to reach £300,000 turnover, not least because lots of people in the world of SMEs told me that getting past £250,000 could be a real challenge and I didn’t want to get stuck there.

Robinson told her team that if they could all work together to break £300K, then they'd all go away on holiday. "It seemed to work because towards year end there was a real team effort  to drive sales and more and more projects started to come off."

“What was most important to me was that it did not happen in a pushy sales way, because that is definitely not we are about. It was more about everyone pulling together and supporting each other toward a shared goal.”

Solve has an ambitious targets for growth to reach 50 retained clients, £1 million turnover and 50 staff by 2020.

The business is built on allowing the team to work flexibly, which invariably means working from home.

While each member of the team will have individual bonus opportunities, en route to realising the firm’s growth plans, Robinson has already promised them another holiday if they reach the next target – breaking through the £400,000 turnover mark.

She added: “For me this is about the big picture of encouraging high performance work. To do that you have to engage your people. Part of that is about having individual targets and bonuses, but more important is having a shared goal to strive for.”

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Eurociett reveals growth for European recruitment agencies

New research by Eurociett, the European Confederation of Private Employment Services, has revealed sales revenue growth for European recruitment agencies across all of the countries in which data was collected.

According to the September 2016 Agency Business Indicator, year-on-year turnover agency revenue rose in all of the eight markets covered. Revenues were greatest in Poland and Finland, with turnover up by 17% and 8.2%, respectively.

Based on data from Eurociett members in 10 countries, but excluding the UK, for which no such data is available, the number of hours worked by agency workers rose by an average of 2.3% year-on-year.

Two countries – Switzerland (-8.6%) and Italy (-6.2%) – were below the average, while Denmark saw the growth in hours worked by agency workers increase by 8.9%, more than any of the countries where data was collected.

PERM: private employment agencies can place ads

In a recent case, an employer used a private employment agency to place an ad for professional recruitment. The agency put its own name in the ad and not the name of the employer; as a result, the Department of Labour denied the Programme Electronic Review Management application.

Requirement to include employer name

The PERM rule specifically requires that an employer's name and location be included in the two mandatory Sunday newspaper ads that form part of the basic recruitment requirements described in Section 656.17(f). However, it does not state that the employer's name must appear in other forms of recruitment as described in Section 656.17(e).

In a series of decisions – including an en banc ruling in Symantec Corp (2011-PER-1856, July 30 2014) – the Board of Alien Labour Certification ruled that, while an employer's name must be included in Sunday newspaper ads, the Department of Labour cannot extend this non-regulatory requirement to other forms of recruitment.

RML Construction, Inc

The recent decision in RML Construction, Inc (2012-PER-1774, August 31 2016) is noteworthy because it limits the power of the Department of Labour – an administrative agency with wide discretion – to interpret the PERM statute and regulation.

RML clarifies that agency memos and other forms of guidance are mere opinions, while statutes and regulations are laws that must be followed. Although the Supreme Court has held that agency opinions should be accorded deference because they are presumed to be well-founded, agencies cannot create laws through interpretations unless they flow directly from the clear intent of the law.

In RML, the Department of Labour focused on the section of the PERM rule regarding the requirement to place two Sunday newspaper ads that include the employer's name, which it confused with a different section stating that ads placed by private employment agencies can be used as an optional form of recruitment.

On appeal, the judges – finding in the employer's favour – held that the Department of Labour should have focused not on the employer's name, as is normally the case for newspaper ads, but on the occupation in a more general sense.

Comment

Symantec – a pivotal precedent – states that the PERM rule's purpose is to permit employers to "advertise for the occupation involved in the application, as opposed to the specific job opportunity for which certification is sought." Basically, this means that the employer's identity need not be included, because only the existence of a job opportunity is important.

The requirement to include an employer's name has been problematic, as employers do not always want to include their names in ads and cannot include their company name in those placed by private employment agencies; if the private agencies were to advertise the name of the employer, they would have no way to reap the rewards of their labour.

RML asserts that not all forms of recruitment are equal, but employers should remember that each form of PERM recruitment has its own nuances which will be interpreted by the Department of Labour and administrative law judges. In RML, the board discussed only the optional recruitment step to use private employment agencies.

For further information on this topic please contact Joel Stewart at Fakhoury Law Group PC by telephone (+1 248 643 4900) or email (joel.stewart@employmentimmigration.com). The Fakhoury Law Group website can be accessed at www.employmentimmigration.com.

Recruitment agencies new 'normal practice' in hiring doctors

General practices are turning to "very expensive" recruitment agencies to lure overseas doctors as they struggle to find Kiwi doctors willing to move to the regions.

Some practices have spent months trying to find doctors, and end up paying large sums to recruitment agencies just to be considered by doctors who only use agencies to look for jobs.

Picton Medical Centre practice manager Leeanne Gardiner used recruitment agencies to find doctors when she struggled to find a replacement for a doctor taking maternity leave.

"I think it is a nationwide problem, rather than just a localised problem. There's just not enough Kiwi doctors coming through the ranks. They're all going to the cities or overseas."

More doctors seemed to be using recruitment agencies to find jobs, as it was a free service and easier than contacting individual practices to look for work, she said.

However practices had to pay significant amounts to have agencies refer doctors to them. Gardiner would not say how much the service cost her practice.

"It can be very expensive."

Using a recruitment agency allowed doctors to be more particular in the type of jobs they were looking for, taking location, hours of work and salary into consideration.

About a quarter of graduates from the Auckland and Otago medical schools left the country the year after graduating, a study by the New Zealand Medical Association showed.

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Many doctors preferred to work as locums, or doctors on a short-term contract, for anywhere from a month to a year, possibly as a means of travel, Gardiner said.

Redwoodtown Doctors practice manager Diane Chalmers said the number of locums looking for work meant there was a much higher turnover of doctors in practices than in previous years, which could be unsettling for elderly patients.

"They turn up and they don't know who they'll see. Gone are the days where you'll have a doctor for life."

There was one GP for every 1675 patients in Marlborough, higher than the Ministry of Health's recommended ratio of 1 to 1500.

A steadily increasing population was stretching GPs, and the only general practice in the region taking on new patients was Picton Medical Centre, which only accepted Picton residents.

Redwoodtown Doctors lost two permanent GPs in August last year, with locums filling the gaps and other doctors working extra shifts.

Chalmers said two permanent GPs had been hired and were due to start in October, but the practice would still be too busy to take on new patients.

"The doctors have done a stirling job of keeping appointments going, but it has been a huge workload for them and the nurses."

Primary Health Organisation chief executive Beth Tester said she was looking at ways to help general practices use recruitment agencies to find doctors.

"Using recruitment agencies seems to be normal practice now."

She was considering ways to help and would put her ideas to the PHO board, she said.

 - The Marlborough Express

Petersburg to hire search firm to find new city manager

PETERSBURG, Va. – Petersburg city council voted to hire an executive search firm to find a new City Manager, despite public outcry not to spend additional funds while in a financial crisis.

Sources tell CBS 6 Rochelle Small-Toney, who was thought to be the city’s leading candidate, withdrew her application for the position this morning

Tuesday night, Petersburg residents made their voices heard over the fact that Petersburg's city council even considered hiring a woman to manage the city who was forced out of her last job as city manager.

“We going to bring someone like this in this city?” said Petersburg resident Raymond Crockett to applause.

“That's not at all the type of leadership we need in Petersburg,” said another Petersburg resident.

Small-Toney is currently the deputy city manager in Fayetteville, North Carolina, but before that she was the city manager of Savannah, Georgia.

She was forced to resign amid allegations of mismanagement in 2012.

One taxpayer highlighted that and passionately told the council the woman currently holding the position in an interim role should get the job.

In fact, some residents have created a petition in support of acting city manager Dironna Moore Belton. It currently has 107 signatures.

Belton wants the job but council did not take action to hire her.

Instead, they voted to hire an executive search firm to find a new city manager, something Crockett wonders how they can afford.

“We are going to spend money we don't have,” said Crockett after the motion was approved.

CBS 6 took Crockett’s concerns directly to council members.

“How are you possibly going to afford to pay an expensive executive search firm?” CBS 6 reporter Melissa Hipolit asked council member Darrin Hill.

“We will look at finances and see how we can do it and maybe some of these search firms know the situation we are going through right now and they will be lenient on us,” said Hill.

Sounds like you guys feel you didn't do the proper background check on the last candidate?” Hipolit asked regarding Rochelle Small-Toney.

“It's possible,” said council member Jon Hart.

Executive Search: Finding the Needle in the Haystack: An interview with Jim Searing, HBS ‘79; Founder, Lochlin Partners

“It is like looking for a needle in a haystack“ describes Jim Searing with a mild chuckle, when asked to describe the executive search business. The founder and retired CEO of Lochlin Partners, a top notch executive search firm, has spent an impressive 32 years in the “head-hunting” industry. A Marine Corps veteran, he graduated from HBS in the summer of 1979, before setting out to hone his sales and marketing skills at behemoths like AT&T and Arthur Young. After learning the executive search consulting business at Arthur Young, he became driven by the desire to start-up on his own, anchored with his core skill and interest of personal sales. He struck out with a partner to found Kirkman & Searing, and grew it into a highly successful Mid-Atlantic search firm.

The executive search industry can be broadly classified into contingency search and retainer search. Contingency search is typically for entry or mid-level positions, where agencies get paid a commission upon recruitment. It typically involves quick and efficient matching through database searches. Retainer search, which is the space in which Searing has always specialized, is the more elite search space where firms are paid a retainer fee to find the perfect person for the upper echelons of the managerial tree. The search often involves several months of vetting scores of candidates, narrowing to a finalist slate of a handful, interviewing them many times, as well as, often, their family, friends and business colleagues.

After running his own firm for about ten years, his firm was acquired by the largest global retainer firm, Korn / Ferry Inc. As a senior partner, he headed their mid-Atlantic market and technology practice. After several years there, he was again driven by the entrepreneurial motive and moved to help found Foster Searing, Ltd. which was eventually renamed Lochlin Partners to ensure perpetuity beyond just the founding members.

Searing explained that some searches can be quite difficult; such as finding an outsider to run a family business for the first time. Yet, Searing recalls one of as his most difficult assignments as the search for a Chief Information Officer for the IRS. “The IRS has some of the most archaic technology systems that could be put in a museum, while also having some of the most advanced IT systems in the world. When tethered together, the end result is that it almost never works” he mirthfully remarks. “We had to find a CIO who could not only make sense of and improve upon all of this, but who was willing to move to the IRS salary level which was about one-tenth of what that level of expertise commanded in the IT industry”.

How does one go about these searches? “Putting on the HBS market segmentation hat is the first step” he says. The search process begins by narrowing down the entire universe of applicable industries into specific, relevant sub-segments. A list of companies is then populated, from which evolves a list of potential executives. “But this linear and logical process must be complemented by a more random and parallel process of networking” he says. A search person’s labyrinth of network becomes critical to obtaining informal pieces of information and other referred potential candidates. After all, recruiting firms seldom look for someone who is looking of job, in fact, they usually prefer someone who isn’t necessarily looking for a situation.

Once the finalist potential three or four candidates have been identified and vetted, they are interviewed multiple times in multiple settings. Their references and spouses are interviewed too, and flags will be raised if only positive attributes are heard. It is equally important to understand their shortcomings while evaluating the overall fit. The whole process involves around 80 interviews from start to finish. “We brief and debrief not only the client firm’s executives but also the candidate to make sure that each understands everything possible about the other” says Searing. Candidate selection is only one part of the process. A smooth onboarding process until they are well settled into their role is another part of the consulting. Helping them negotiate and find their way through the complicated maze of a new company and culture, having an open dialogue with them and the firm to ensure alignment and redressal of teething problems are all part of the retainer firm’s work. There are no typical metrics in place to measure the success of a candidate search, but if the hire stays in the job for about 3-5 years, it is reasonable to assume that the search was a success. And whenever it doesn’t work, it is seldom for lack of skills. It is almost always a case of cultural or expectation misfit.

Do recruiters look for candidates outside the client’s industry? “It all depends on the client’s requirements. At the CXO level, some clients do look for people with specific skills rather than industry expertise - but that is somewhat rare. When an industry is faced with a major shift, or when the company is looking to change its focus, candidates may be hired outside their traditional industry. IBM recruited Gerstner who didn’t have a tech background because they wanted to focus more on marketing. Most client companies do have a strong preference for candidates within their industry. Even if the client is open to looking at outsiders, at the interview stage the connection is usually stronger with people from their own industry and most companies end up hiring them. As a recruiter, our role is to find what the client wants. We do advise them if we find an exceptional outsider, but this isn’t the norm and is not our primary role. If someone is looking to change their current industry, my suggestion would be to use their functional expertise to pivot. Changing industries is easier earlier on one’s career and, again, at the CXO level, but is more difficult in the 5- 20 years experience bracket.”

How has he seen the industry transform throughout his long career? Searing says technology, especially Linkedin and Google searches, has drastically changed and shortened the candidate identification piece of the search cycle. “In the dark ages, candidate identification was about 60-70% of the work; it was pretty labor intensive” he laughs. Now, it’s also easier to directly & confidentially connect with candidates. But it is harder to “administer the truth serum” in interviews as candidates have become much more interview savvy. Therefore, candidate evaluation and fit are now some of the most difficult and value-added parts of the search process.

What is Searing’s advice to the batch of HBS graduating 37 years after he did? “I have three pieces of advice to give. First, if you know what your passion is - just go do it. No excuses there. If you do not know your passion, join a large firm. It provides you with more scope and leverage to experiment while looking solid and legitimate on your resume. And whatever you choose, do the job really well. It simply provides you with more opportunities”.

“Second, network. Develop relationships not only with colleagues and bosses but also with juniors, vendors and clients. 80% of jobs are sourced through networking, and 90% of those are through networking with a person who is about three to five degrees-of-separation away. Figure out smart ways to keep in touch: it could be a simple act of emailing relevant articles once in a while. Create a list of 50 most important people you’d like to stay in touch with, refresh the list periodically, and make sure you actively reach out to them. Don’t hesitate to ask people out for coffee”.

“Third, save ‘exit money’. If you find yourself caught in an ethical dilemma or a tough spot, having saved money can make your correct exit that much easier. And, if you followed my first and second pieces of advice, your exit shouldn’t be tough either”.

I promptly asked him out for coffee as the interview ended, when he visits Boston that is.

Did Searing find the right CIO for IRS? “Yes we did. We found an extremely qualified candidate who didn’t mind the drastic pay cut as he was looking to give back to the society. We not just find the needle in the haystack, we find the perfect needle in the haystack - at least 80-90% of the time” he laughed.

Singapore headhunters expect hiring freeze in 2016

SINGAPORE - Job hiring has so far been only modestly affected by the recent stock market turmoil and China's economic slowdown, Singapore headhunters say.

But they predict hiring could be halted completely in the second half of next year (2016) as the full impact of these factors flows through, leaving employers far more cautious.

Recruitment agency ScienTec Consulting told The Straits Times: "Overall, due to the volatile global market, we feel that there will be a possible slowdown in hiring in certain sectors and the impact will only be felt in the second half of 2016."Ms Karen Tok, ScienTec Consulting's chief executive, added that its junior recruitment and executive search divisions foresee the slowdown. She added that hiring will be affected by the global business slowdown, a mix of competition from emerging technologies, and online businesses.

The firm has not seen major changes in hiring patterns or heard of any hiring freeze or expansion delay in the last six months, compared with the same period a year ago.

Recruitment firm Randstad also has yet to see a direct correlation between the volatility in markets and hiring sentiment but other firms note a slight difference.

The volatile markets have had a negative effect on hiring strategies in general, said Mr Mervin Chui, ZW HR Consulting's managing director. "It has been decidedly more difficult to get new headcount approval and employers are also generally more cautious."

He noted that the life sciences, chemical and the aerospace sectors are where prospective employers are ultra-cautious, and "have either been extremely selective or have held off on hiring completely".

Mr Chui also said that there has been a noticeable drop in clients following through on expansion plans not just to Singapore, but to South-east Asia, too.

Hiring managers are definitely taking longer to make recruitment decisions, noted Mr Toby Fowlston, managing director of Robert Walters South-east Asia. It sees "restricted job markets in certain industries" like investment banking.

But he is not surprised because there already has been downsizing and offshoring, with a number of banks moving to cheaper locations.

Mrs Lay-Hoon Johnson, associate director of financial services and governance at Michael Page, concurred: "Restructuring is very common in the banking scene which is often times driven by cost considerations."

However, Mr Fowlston notes a positive job market "especially within the technology market as companies continue to focus on their online and digital content". He said that more companies are starting to consider contract staff, especially where they do not have approval to hire permanent staff.

Activity on professional networking website LinkedIn has also been robust in the last six months, especially in healthcare and pharmaceuticals, and media and entertainment.

Ms Feon Ang, senior director of talent solutions for LinkedIn in Asia-Pacific and Japan, also noted "a healthy double-digit growth" in the volume of jobs posted by companies over the last six months, compared with last year.

She said: "This is a positive sign showing that perhaps businesses in Singapore are continuing to invest to acquire talent to stay competitive, regardless of market conditions."

Mr Max Loh, Asean and Singapore managing partner at consulting firm EY, agreed: "In the current economic climate, businesses seek out best practices and advice on effective organisational structure, operational excellence and risk management."

That has created opportunities for professional services firms, he added. "EY has been seeing continued demand for business advice, and has been aggressively hiring in Singapore and Asean in existing and new areas of expertise."

KPMG in Singapore also has increased headcount across each of the audit, tax and advisory areas of business, particularly at a more senior level, by more than 14 per cent over the past year, it noted.

Mr Quek Shu Ping, its head of people, performance and culture, said the company had anticipated the growing needs of its client base in Singapore and the Asean region.

news via http://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-headhunters-expect-hiring-freeze-in-2016

Why U.S. companies pay headhunters $15,000 to fill manufacturing jobs

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (MarketWatch) — When Kevin Nading needed to hire nine skilled craftsmen with at least five years of experience for Caterpillar Inc.’s factory here in the Midwest, it took him six months to find them. He has paid recruiters finder’s fees of as much as $15,000 for experienced workers with the right mix of skills. He’s even had to pay relocation costs.

Using a headhunter to find blue-collar workers may seem unusual, particularly as politicians, including presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, bemoan the loss of American manufacturing jobs. But in places like Lafayette, companies are discovering they can’t rely on posting job openings on employment websites like Monster Worldwide MWW, +0.56% Those who do the hiring in this area an hour northwest of Indianapolis complain about how difficult it is to find workers. That’s true for entry-level workers but even more so for senior electricians, mechanics and other higher-skilled employees who keep factories humming.

Companies say they are being hit by the looming retirement of longtime employees with specialized skills, a tight labor market and a poor image of manufacturing jobs that has resulted in parents and high school guidance counselors steering teens toward four-year colleges. And when they do hire younger, unskilled employees, they find many fall short on so-called soft skills, such as communicating effectively and working in teams. Too many miss days of work and appear unmotivated.

The squeeze is painful for Indiana, where almost 30% of the economy is tied to manufacturing, more than any other state and more than double the national average. More than 520,000 people work in factories scattered across the state, including 17,000 in Tippecanoe County, where Lafayette is located. The jobs pay well: an average of $72,000 last year, including overtime, according to the Indiana Manufacturers Association, compared with $48,000 across all other sectors.

To be sure, Indiana hasn’t won back all the manufacturing jobs lost during the Great Recession. And even now, some companies are laying off workers.

Almost 30% of Indiana’s economy is tied to manufacturing.

Statewide, unemployment was only 4.5% in August, below the national average of 4.9% and less than half the 10.9% peak hit during the Great Recession, in early 2010. In Tippecanoe County, unemployment during the first six months of this year averaged 4.4%.

Read: Half of the high-paying jobs in America now require this skill

“In Indiana, we’ve seen nothing but growth” in manufacturing jobs in recent years, says Brad Rhorer, a senior executive in human resources at Subaru of Indiana Automotive’s factory, located a few miles from Caterpillar in Lafayette. He, too, has had to use recruiters in some cases.

The company, owned by Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. 7270, +3.70%  in Japan, is in the midst of another expansion that will bring employment to more than 5,000 people. The challenge to find assembly-line workers is noticeable, despite being one of the top-paying manufacturers in Lafayette. In 2006, when the company added 1,000 jobs, it received 23,000 applications. This year, as it has added 1,200 jobs, a little over 4,000 people applied. But many quickly fall out of contention as the company reviews their work skills and those soft skills. It recently tried recruiting those discharged from the military at Fort Campbell, Ky., more than 300 miles away, figuring veterans have a strong work ethic.

At Caterpillar CAT, +2.17% 395 applications yielded only two hirings as skilled electricians.

“Teamwork is our biggest hurdle,” Rhorer says.

In southern Indiana, recruiter Joshewa Meurer says his most difficult searches can involve jobs for skilled maintenance technicians, machinists and machine-tool operators. But even filling some production and warehouse jobs can be challenging. Sometimes employers aren’t willing to budge on pay; other times, a rival is offering a better shift of better working conditions, such as indoors or climate-controlled, he says.

“I wouldn’t say there’s a lack of positions as a lack of people to do the jobs,” Meurer says.

He estimates he talks to 20 people that lead to five interviews and eventually one job for a maintenance technician. He talks to about seven people to fill a job for a general laborer.

To replenish the pool of workers, Brian Burton, the head of the Indiana Manufacturers Association (IMA), says his industry needs to do a better job reaching out to school administrators and teachers, even in junior high, and telling them about opportunities in manufacturing.

The IMA says the shortage of skilled production workers will only get worse in the coming years and is holding back companies from expanding. In 2015, 36% of about 275 companies surveyed described a “moderate shortage” of such workers, while 34% described a “serious shortage.” Asked about the coming three to five years, 44% predicted a “serious shortage” of such workers and 25% foresaw a “moderate” shortage.

“Before, we would recruit only as needed,” said Chad Gibson, operations manager at voestalpine Rotec, which makes seat belts not far from the Subaru factory in Lafayette. “Now we try to recruit ahead of time.”