06Jun

The last several weeks have been a trying time for our nation. With so many businesses closed and all of us sheltering at home, it’s natural to be concerned about the future.

As part of our Green Key Resources community, I want you to know, as we go about filling the needs of our clients and working to ensure the health and safety of our employees, we are also looking forward to the time when the crisis is over.

When that time comes, and hopefully it will soon, we will be ready to meet the need to get everyone back to work and transition back to business as usual.

In the meantime, our entire team continues to work remotely, with full, secure access to all our systems. Though our physical offices remain closed nationwide, we’re still answering the phones, filling positions and staffing jobs.

We shared our initial steps with you two weeks ago, when the Centers for Disease Control and Preparedness declared the coronavirus a pandemic and advised all those who could to stay home:

  • We immediately transitioned all of our personnel to work from home.
  • To protect employees working in temporary positions, we contacted our clients to assist them in making remote work arrangements wherever possible.
  • We encouraged all interviews to be conducted remotely and communicated with candidates and clients about safe procedures in cases where that was not possible.

Our efforts to limit exposure and avoid in-person contact are also continuing. Recruiters are conducting interviews exclusively by video conferencing or phone. Our team is reaching out to clients, temporary employees and candidates on a daily basis to check on your well-being and offer help with remote work and staffing needs.

And because working remotely and managing remote teams is new to so many and takes a different approach, we’ve supplemented our blog with articles on the topic. We hope this offers you valuable information as you transition to this new normal.

We have also heard from many of you, particularly from those in healthcare where the need for workers is especially critical. As Brett Braterman of our healthcare division noted last week, “We are seeing a huge uptick in requests from our hospitals for staff to work in all different departments.” Our specialists are tireless in their efforts to fill the need, contacting retired professionals as well as those in less hard-hit areas

Our pharmaceutical/life sciences team is diligently working with pharmaceutical and biostat companies to ensure we continue to deliver top talent as the development and testing for drugs has become more crucial than ever. Our IT, Accounting, Finance and Office Support teams continue to support clients with their hard to fill roles and continue to be a trusted advisor on their hiring needs.

If there is any way Green Key Resources can help you, know that we want to and we’re here for you. Our main number is 212.683.1988.

This is a difficult time for our country, for our businesses, and especially for our families and loved ones, but we are all pulling together.

As we approach the holidays with Passover, Easter and Ramadan around the corner, I want to extend my personal thoughts for your health and well-being. Together we will get through these challenging times.

Andrew Chayut / Managing Partner

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

[bdp_post_carousel]

Jun 6, 2023

Honor Martin Luther King, Jr. with a ‘Day On’

Today we honor the memory of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Schools, financial markets, banks, government and many businesses will be closed. But, unlike in years past, because of COVID the nation will celebrate quietly. Parades and gatherings have been canceled with observances moved online.

MLK Day 2021 - blog.jpg

What hasn’t changed is the spirit of the day. MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service. It should be a “Day on, not a day off,” says AmeriCorps, which has led the day’s volunteer efforts since Congress first adopted the holiday.

Though in-person volunteer efforts are limited, AmeriCorps has dozens of COVID-safe suggestions for individuals, groups, businesses, and organizations. There’s also a search to find volunteer opportunities near where you are.

The work doesn’t have to be done today. But it can start today.

Photo by History in HD

[bdp_post_carousel]

Jun 6, 2023

Optimism Growing for an Improving Job Market

Optimism is growing that the worst of the pandemic business retrenchment is over and that job growth may be just around the corner.

The Conference Board last week said its Employment Trends Index increased in January for the ninth consecutive month.

At the same time, Chief Executive released its latest poll of chief executive officers showing their confidence in future business conditions continues to grow. It is now where it was in February last year, just before the global business shutdown. Out of a possible 10 points, the 300+ CEOs scored their optimism about business conditions in the coming months at 7.1, a 2-year high.

In addition, Chief Executive reported that “A growing number of business leaders now forecast growth in revenues and capital expenditures as well. Meanwhile, they rated their confidence in current business conditions ‘good,’ at 6.2 out of 10.”

CEO confidence - blog.jpg

The Conference Board’s Employment Index and its Leading Economic Index, released late last month, are both on an upswing, if a slow and uneven one. The LEI increased by 0.3% in December after improving by a more robust 0.9% in October and 0.7% in November.

“The US LEI’s slowing pace of increase in December suggests that US economic growth continues to moderate in the first quarter of 2021,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director of economic research at The Conference Board.”Improvements in the US LEI were very broad-based among the leading indicators, except for rising initial claims for unemployment insurance and a mixed consumer outlook on business and economic conditions.”

The improvement in the Employment Trends Index has been far steadier and quicker. The index came in at 99.27 in January, a small .72 point improvement over December but a significant improvement from last spring when the index was just over 70. Still, the index is 10% lower than it was a year ago.

The Employment Trends Index is a leading composite index for employment, meaning it is an early indicator pointing to future job growth. “Turning points in the index indicate that a turning point in employment is about to occur in the coming months,” says The Conference Board. “The Employment Trends Index aggregates eight leading indicators of employment, each of which has proven accurate in its own area.”

Temp Staffing chart - blog.jpg

One of these, the number of workers employed by the staffing industry, has been a primary driver of improvement in the index, says Gad Levanon, head of The Conference Board Labor Markets Institute. “The Employment Trends Index has been increasing in recent months, with the largest contributing component being the number of jobs in the temporary help industry.”

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 2.95 million workers employed by the staffing industry at the beginning of 2020. Following the government ordered COVID shutdown, the number dropped to 1.95 million in April. Now, the latest BLS report says the staffing industry employed 2.7 million in January.

Though Levanon cautions we should expect some uncertainty around job growth due to the risk of the emerging COVID variants, by spring he says, “We expect strong job growth to resume and continue throughout the remainder of the year.”

Photo by Corey Agopian on Unsplash

[bdp_post_carousel]