Hard times for corporate hiring

Workforce, Sept, 2002

As the number of victims of corporate America's system failures and scandals climbs, recruiters may find themselves on the list of the walking wounded. John Challenger, who monitors workforce trends at Challenger, Gray and Christmas, says that accounting investigations at several major corporations could cause people who are looking for work to search for alternatives to corporate jobs.

While larger entities might have a tougher time attracting people, it could be easier for start-ups. The same goes for government jobs, as well as nonprofit work. Teach for America is getting about three times the number of applications it received in 2001. The government's Office of Personnel Management received about 20,000 applications for 200 IT positions at an online job fair this summer. The first weekend in August, the Dallas Independent School District had a career fair to recruit applicants for teaching jobs. The turnout was so large that many people stood in line for hours to get in the door.

Challenger says big companies should closely monitor their Web traffic in the coming months to see if the number of online applications and inquiries is declining. Companies should act quickly to win back the trust they collectively have lost. He says an organization should clearly explain to its employees that the company will go above and beyond the letter of the law in disclosing its accounting practices. Challenger adds that this is a good time for large corporations to increase their social-service work and charitable contributions.

"No one wants to put their fate in the hands of people who aren't straight up," he says.