Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday have whizzed by, ushering in a new month, colder temperatures, and some stimulating employee and workforce news this week. Just in case you were still recovering from all the feasts and shopping extravaganzas, here’s a roundup of the top stories from the past few weeks:
The Wall Street Journal: For Smaller Firms, Recruiting Costs Add Up
A study conducted by Bersin & Associates found a drastic difference in the cost of recruitment for small versus large organizations. Companies with more than 10,000 employees pay a median figure of $1,949 per hire. Meanwhile, midsize and small companies pay a median $3,665 and $3,665 per hire, respectively. Bersin & Associates attributes the gap to large companies hiring significantly more employees than smaller organizations when compared to the size of their recruitment staff.
The study also ranked the cost of recruitment by industry, and found that the manufacturing industry spends the most money. The median cost-per-hire in manufacturing is $6,443, more than $4,300 more than in healthcare, which ranked at the bottom of the list.
The Hiring Site: Hiring or Not, Two in Five Employers Continue to Recruit
Two in five U.S. employers surveyed by CareerBuilder say they continuously recruit year-round, even when there are no positions open. Of the employers that conduct year-round recruiting, 41 percent reported at least a three-week decrease in time-to-hire. In addition, 41 percent of companies reported cost savings, with 22 percent recording savings as high as $1,000 or more per hire.
And finally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest Unemployment Report this morning, with some not terrible (but also not great) news for job seekers.
MSNBC: Employment growth picked up speed in November; jobless rate fell to 8.6 percent
The unemployment rate in November dropped to 8.6 percent, marking the lowest unemployment rate since March 2009. This decrease can be attributed to an increase in hiring by retailers, restaurants, and bars for the holidays, but also to 315,000 people leaving the workforce.
Analysts say the economy needs to create at least 125,000 jobs every month just to keep the unemployment rate steady. So far this year, job growth has averaged 125,600 jobs a month, with November surpassing that goal by 15,000.