It seems like you can’t turn on the news these days without the topic of inflation coming up. In March, the price of goods was the highest in 41 years, with energy prices up more than 30%. Add to that the war in Ukraine, the cost of food, gasoline, housing, and automobiles, and it’s easy to understand why there’s so much unease.

The contractor job market is also feeling the effects.  One of the perks of being a contractor is a flexible schedule, but it also means travel and compensation for mobilization and demobilization costs. Once it may have taken $50 per hour to send a contractor to a job in California, they now need $55, so we see a ripple effect in this aspect.  There’s also the increasing cost of benefits, advertising, and the sources used to find candidates that affect companies and staffing firms alike. To help alleviate these added expenses, companies may decide to pull back on recruiting tactics. However, doing so could be detrimental as it continues to be a candidate-driven market.

Not sure what to do about recruiting when inflation is at an all-time high? Partnering with a staffing firm could be the answer. Here are 3 Reasons Why:

      1. More recruiters = more opportunities for success

There continue to be more jobs than candidates, and to that extent, the more recruiters you have working for you – looking for the right person with highly specialized skills, the more likely you are to find a match. At FootBridge, we’ve increased our recruiting power. No matter how many databases or job boards you post on, nothing beats having a person on the other end of the phone quantifying a candidate’s abilities.

      Here’s what some of our recruiters have to say:

Image of man with quote “What I like about FootBridge is that I’m working for a firm that invests in its employees, candidates, and clients. I hope candidates also know that I’m not just running through a scripted performance.  Finding a job is personal, and I genuinely want to know who the candidate is. My role as a recruiter is about helping people all-around, ” FootBridge recruiter Chris Mayfield

Image of man with quote “What I like about recruiting is that it’s a knowingness that you’re doing something right by the client. It’s a feeling, knowing that we’re doing something right that carries over into everything we do,” FootBridge recruiter Mark Zaytsev

Image of woman with the quote “When it comes to recruiting, it’s nice to know you’re helping people and doing good by them,” FootBridge recruiter Kate Gagnon

      2. Data isn’t everything

We’ve had clients tell us that finding great engineers isn’t necessarily a specific formula but about having a great recruiter on their side—someone who “gets” the industry and inherently understands when a candidate is the right fit. It’s a feeling that extends to our contractors, too, as we have candidates who’ve been with us throughout their careers. When Rich Puckett, one of our engineering contractors, announced his retirement after 15 years working with FootBridge, he wrote a letter expressing his appreciation and how we had his back every step of the way.

We’ve also had recruiters with us for a long time too! Check out this article, “The Art of Energy Recruitment with Joe Squires,” our operations manager who has been with FootBridge for 15 years and counting.

      3. Hiring is our specialty

We often tell our clients that hiring for your industry is the ONLY job we do. Human resource departments have MANY responsibilities, from onboarding activities, employee relations, and metrics, to developing policies and procedures. While recruiting and hiring can also fall under HR, staffing firms specialize in finding suitable candidates on behalf of HR and the departments who need to fill a job, often under tight timelines. We also take on the cost burden of advertising and sourcing candidates, perform background checks, and schedule additional screenings, to name a few things.

For more information on how some of our recruiters work, visit “A Conversation with Senior Recruiter Kate Gagnon“. Want to know about the cost savings of working with a staffing firm? We have those answers too.

FootBridge contract employees have a wide range of skills and come from various backgrounds. We look for talented professionals ready to hit the ground running and immediately contribute to our client’s productivity. Contact us today to learn more.