Jon Osborne's Blog

What would Einstein buy?

I am sometimes asked what segments and sectors are most attractive for acquisition.  The wise, considered, sober answer, delivered with a thoughtful sigh while wiping ones glasses meditatively and looking into the distance, would be, of course, 'it depends.' 

But for the purposes here, I will go out on a limb and say industrial temp staffing.

Of course it depends on what will best dovetail... More

M&A firms making you an offer

You might think that M&A advisory firms are formal, unapproachable sorts of places, with stone-serious people in suits who start running the meter the second you call them, places you wouldn't think of contacting unless you were yourself well-heeled and ready to pull the trigger on a transaction. 

We recently had a talk with some of the M&A advisory firms specializing in staffing, and... More

Hooray! We "only" lost 63,000 temp jobs in April!

The second derivative has been the last refuge of the bulls in recent months; tracking it is an optimists' game, but it's also the only way to know when things are turning around and how fast. 

Good news: For the last few months it has moved convincingly in the right direction a deceleration in the rate of temp job loss.

From the beginning of 2008 through November, temp job losses accelerated,... More