Lengthy hiring practices, misconceptions make companies lose out on talent

Lengthy hiring practices and misconceptions about what motivates top candidates to make a job move are causing companies to lose out on high performers in an already tight talent market, according to the 2016 MRINetwork Recruiter & Employer Sentiment Study. Companies that want to attract and retain...

Alaska posts highest jobless rate in May

Alaska posted the highest unemployment rate among all states in May at 6.7%, according to data released today by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Illinois and Louisiana followed at 6.4% and 6.3% respectively.

The District of Columbia had a rate of 6.1%.

South Dakota and New Hampshire had the lowest jobless...

People: TalentWave, ApTask, Crowded.com, Phillips Staffing and more

TalentWave appointed Derek Sanders as VP – business solutions. Based in San Francisco, he will be responsible for driving enterprise sales for the western region of the US. Prior to joining TalentWave, Sanders was practice director – sales and marketing/human resources for Randstad. Earlier in his...

Editorial criticizes H-1B ‘abuse’ (The New York Times)

Visa abuses harm American workers as employers use H-1B visas to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labor instead of the intended specially talented foreign professionals, The editorial board of The New York Times opines. Criticism of the visa process has been muted, and reform has moved slowly,...

Korn Ferry fee revenue up, Hay Group acquisition fuels growth

Executive search and advisory firm Korn Ferry International (NYSE: KFY) reported fee revenue rose 47.2% in its fiscal fourth quarter ended April 30. The company closed on its acquisition of the Hay Group on Dec. 1; excluding legacy Hay Group, fee revenue rose 4.9%, or 7.1% on a constant-currency basis,...

Quarter of ad and marketing execs to freeze hiring

Companies in the creative field plan to increase hiring freezes in the second half of the year, according to a new survey from The Creative Group, a marketing/creative staffing division of Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE: RHI).

The survey found 25% of hiring managers at advertising agencies and marketing...

Jobless claims average flat but initial claims exceed forecast

The US four-week moving average of initial claims for unemployment insurance was almost unchanged last week at 269,250, edging down only 250 from the previous week’s unrevised average, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the US Department of Labor.

The four-week moving average...

Robert Half Legal says 31% of law firms, companies to hire in second half

Hiring is predicted to increase for the legal field in the second half of 2016, according to a study released today from Robert Half Legal. Nearly one-third of lawyers interviewed, 31%, anticipate their law firms or companies will add legal jobs in the second half of the year, up from 24% six months...

Microsoft asks court to throw out NLRB contract worker ruling (Reuters)

Microsoft Corp. (NASD: MSFT) asked a federal court to throw out a ruling by a US labor board extending the responsibility of companies for contract workers, arguing that the case would have big implications for the technology company, Reuters reports. In the NLRB’s 2015 ruling, it said Browning-Ferris...

Envision, AmSurg to merge (Bloomberg)

Envision Healthcare Holdings Inc. and AmSurg Corp. agreed to merge in an all-stock deal that will create a super-sized US provider of physicians and healthcare services with a combined enterprise value of $15 billion, Bloomberg reports. The transaction will create one of the largest US providers of physicians...