Why It’s So Tough to Create Jobs. Was it me, or was this just more deflating news for those of us in hiring????

As  HR professionals, it is important for us to stay up to date on the current staus of the economy. Whether we work in recruitment, mergers and acquisitons or benefits and compensation, what is happening all over the country affects what we do inside our companies.

So what do we do to convince our employers to do their part to re-stimulate the economy? After reading this article, it’s clear that many companies are sitting on cash reserves and pulling down their job postings. Many companies are afraid that instead of seeing an economic turnaround, we will dip deeper into this recision. We need to remind our bosses and our bosses’ bosses that while the economy is still in a slump, our company can’t afford to be left behind when things to start pick up.

So how do we do this??? Maybe we realign our hiring practices for a few months; Instead of hiring 5 expensive full time employees (to whom we must pay benefits, payroll taxes and etc), we bring 1-2 contract-term employees to help us get through any large projects we are working on. If we can afford to keep them on at the time the project is complete and they perform stellar work, let’s offer them a full-time position.

What if we take a super small portion of our cash reserve and launch an internal-to-external social media marketing initiative? Have every employee put out a blast about something awesome your company is doing that set them apart from the competition. Offer a few inexpensives prizes to the employees that come up with the most original or eye-catching posts (via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, REDDIT, etc) and see how much business can be driven by (essentially) free marketing.

Let your CFO and/or CEO know that the federal government is offering tax refunds to companies that hire veterans. Maybe launch a recruiting initiative that is targeted to vets just returning from tours in the Middle East.

Be creative! Get inspired by others prospering during the recession! Don’t be afraid to try new things! Encourage others to get excited! It only takes a few great ideas and a lot of great attitudes to change things. Keep that in mind when you stumble across yet another depressing article about the state of our economy. Yes, things aren’t phenomenal, but let’s stay positive and do our best to make things better.

Namaste