As you can imagine, we talk with literally hundreds of companies in our area as we pursue workforce and recruiting projects. What we’re seeing is a definite improvement in what I call the “hiring mood” across employers in Tampa Bay.   Currently, I’d say it’s now “cautiously optimistic” as we see the number of hires increasing.  

This is a dramatic improvement, in my opinion, since Winter of 2009 when the hiring mood was grim.   Last March, about 55% of companies we spoke with said they had either just completed layoffs or were still planning to lay-off staff, about 40% said they were holding steady with their current staff and had no plans to hire and the remaining 5% actually added staff.    Most of the hiring during this time period was to either replace staff who had left the company or to upgrade underperformers by taking advantage of the amount of talent available in the talent-rich market.

In the last few months of 2009, we noticed a shift in the mood.   Instead of talks of layoffs, we heard more talk of “plans” to hire; however, more companies were continuing to hold steady with their current staff.   Still reluctant to increase current staffing levels, topgrading continued and companies seeked contractors to help with production spikes and increased sales volume.

In just the past two months, we’ve started to see these ”hiring plans” slowly begin to move forward.    Companies are cautiously optimistic that business will continue to improve;  however, most believe it will still be slow in the near future.   Hiring plans are tightly focused, heavily scrutinized for ROI and benchmarked carefully against performance.    It’s a slow start but a big step in the right direction!

By: Bill Fries, CEO of Hiregy