Seasonally adjusted employment data, released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics, indicated that staffing firms added 15,000 new jobs (0.7%)
from September to October. In a year-to-year comparison, temporary help
employment for the month was 7.9% higher than October 2010.

U.S. nonfarm payroll employment added 80,000 jobs in September, largely
driven by employment increases in the private sector. Modest job growth was
reported in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, health
care, and mining. Government employment continued to decline. The overall
unemployment dropped slightly from 9.1% to 9.0%.

“The October BLS report underscores the critical importance of the current
jobs debate in Washington and the need to jump-start the economy overall,” said
Richard Wahlquist, president and chief executive officer of the American
Staffing Association. “ASA members report that businesses say lack of demand is
holding back hiring. Until demand picks up, businesses will continue to rely on
their existing permanent work forces and flexible staffing.”

Nonseasonally adjusted BLS data, which estimate the actual number of jobs in
the economy, indicated that the staffing industry added jobs, with temporary
help firms employing approximately 68,900 additional people (2.9%) from
September to October. On a year-to-year basis, there were 7.3% more staffing
employees in October compared with the same month in 2010.

For more information, visit the ASA newsroom. You can
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Interviews with ASA executives are available.

The American Staffing Association is the voice of the U.S. staffing industry.
ASA and its affiliated chapters advance the interests of staffing and recruiting
firms of all sizes and across all sectors through legal and legislative
advocacy, public relations, education, and the promotion of high standards of
legal, ethical, and professional practices. ASA members provide the full range
of employment and work force services and solutions, including temporary and
contract staffing, recruiting and permanent placement, outplacement and
outsourcing, training, and human resource consulting.

1. “Big 3”

Employers struggle with 1. Connecting with employees; 2. conducting effective performance reviews and;  3. understanding shifting generational values.

2. “Job hoppers”

The Express Employment Professionals study cites a recent CareerBuilder survey which found that 91 percent of employees say they are at least willing to change jobs.

3. “Blindsided”

The CareerBuilder survey cited found that 55 percent of company leaders are not expecting employees to leave when they do.

4. “Oblivious”

More than three quarters (77 percent) of respondents in the Express EmploymentProfessionals survey say that employee retention isn’t a problem in their
companies.

5. “Low satisfaction”

Yet Express Employment Professionals finds that “less than half of Americans” are actually satisfied with their jobs. The result is a “major miscommunication” between employers and employees, the company says.

6. “What do workers want?”

79 percent of respondents to the Express Employment Professionals survey say that more than half of their employees want to be “rewarded” in their
positions.

7. “Show me the money”

68 percent of respondents believe over half of their employees are looking for more pay.

8. “Failure to act”

Only 17 percent of respondents say their companies have “reinstated previous pay levels or raises.”

9. “Admit you have a problem”

What should employers do? The first step, according to Express Employment
Professionals, is for business leaders to recognize that “they have a retention
problem

10. “Start at the top”

Next, says Express Employment Professionals, is to install a “strong leader”
who sees the trouble and acts upon it to reduce retention problems.