Author: Staffing Analysts

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Korn/Ferry to Pay $80 Million for Leadership Firm

Executive search firm Korn/Ferry International Inc. (NYSE: KFY) signed a deal to acquire leadership advisory firm PDI Ninth House for $80 million in cash at closing plus an earn-out of up to $15 million. PDI Ninth House provides leadership assessments, leadership development services, coaching, online learning for leaders and leadership strategy services.

The deal marks the second major acquisition of a leadership consulting firm for Korn/Ferry. In September, it acquired Global Novations LLC for $35 million in cash plus an earn-out of $5 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Global Novations provides diversity and leadership offerings that include consulting, training, education and e-learning.

PDI Ninth House is on track for fee revenue of between $90 million and $100 million this year and is based in Minneapolis. Korn/Ferry expects to close the acquisition by the end of the year.

“We believe the combined suite of talent management offerings, rich intellectual property and world-class people will immediately increase Korn/Ferry’s depth and scale in being the most relevant leadership organization in the world,” Korn/Ferry CEO Gary Burnison. “PDI Ninth House not only has capabilities that are a strong fit for our clients, but they share our same vision that despite all of the technological innovations of the past century, it is still great people that drive business success.”

Korn/Ferry also today posted revenue of $196.2 million in its fiscal second quarter ended Oct. 31. Revenue was down 2.0 percent from the same period last year.

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Survey: 29% of Employers Find Fake Job References

Twenty-nine percent of employers have caught fake references on candidate applications, according to a survey from CareerBuilder. Additionally, 62 percent said that when they contacted a reference listed on an application, the reference didn’t have good things to say about the candidate.

Other findings include:

  • Fifteen percent of workers reported that they have listed someone as a reference, but didn’t tell that person.
  • Eighty percent of employers said they do contact references when evaluating potential employees. Sixteen percent of these employers will contact references even before they call the candidate for a job interview.
  • Sixty-nine percent of employers said they have changed their minds about a candidate after speaking with a reference, with 47 percent reporting they had a less favorable opinion and 23 percent reporting they had a more favorable opinion. Thirty-one percent said references haven’t swayed their decisions on a candidate.

Harris Interactive conducted the study from Aug. 13, 2012, to Sept. 6, 2012. It included 2,494 hiring managers and human resource professionals.

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Temp Jobs Fall by 4,900 in August

The number of jobs in the “temporary help services” industry slipped to approximately 2.52 million in August, down by 4,900 from July, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition, the number of temp jobs added in July was cut to 6,700 from the initially reported gain of 14,100.

Temporary employment as a percent of total employment — the temporary help penetration rate — slipped to 1.89 percent in August from 1.90 percent in July.

However, employment rose by 6,700 jobs, or 0.4 percent, in the “employment services industry” to 3.2 million. The employment services industry is a broader category that includes temporary help services as well as employment placements agencies, executive search services and professional employer organizations.

Total nonfarm employment disappointed in August with the U.S. adding only 96,000 jobs for total employment of 133.3 million, seasonally adjusted.

August’s job gain comes in below the estimated gain of 201,000 private sector jobs estimated by the national employment report released Thursday by Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASD: ADP).

The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent in August from 8.3 percent in July, according to seasonally adjusted numbers from the BLS. However, the labor force participation rate declined. The college-level unemployment rate, which can serve as a proxy for professional employment, was unchanged in August at 4.1 percent.

“The meager 96,000 job gain in August, after a downwardly revised gain of 141,000 in July, reflects a labor market that remains slow in a disappointingly weak economy,” said Kathy Bostjancic, director of macroeconomic analysis at The Conference Board. “Companies are focused on squeezing more productivity gains out of existing workers and keeping a tight lid on labor costs.”

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Kentucky Staffing Firm Settles EEOC Suit

A Lexington, Kentucky, staffing agency, agreed to provide back pay and $5,000 in compensatory damages to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported today. The suit alleged staffing firm The Patty Tipton Company denied employment to a woman because she refused to wear pants for religious reasons.

University of Kentucky student Megan Woodard is a member of a fundamentalist Baptist church whose members believe women should not dress like men, including refraining from wearing pants, according to the EEOC. Woodard applied for a temporary job at the 2010 World Equestrian Games held in Lexington, but was denied a position due to her request for the religious accommodation to not wear pants.

The settlement also provides for injunctive relief including anti-discrimination training, reporting of discrimination claims, and a prohibition against any discrimination or retaliation under Title VII.

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Indianapolis Law Aims to Curb Temp ‘Blacklisting’

A rule to prevent Indianapolis hotels from “blacklisting” workers from temporary staffing firms received approval July 16 from the Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Council, according to a report by Indiana Public Media. The rule now goes to the mayor for his signature.

The rule prohibits hotels from signing deals with contractors—such as staffing firms—that prevent the hotels from hiring the contractor’s employees directly, according to city documents.

The impetus for Indianapolis’ rule stems from complaints earlier this year about staffing firm employees who provided cleaning services at hotels. The claims were that hotels wouldn’t hire them on directly—even if they were applying at a different hotel from the one where they worked if both hotels used the same staffing firm, according to news reports.

Workers claimed they had to wait six months to a year after leaving the staffing service before being hired directly by hotels.

Workers at Indianapolis hotels earlier this year also sued a staffing firm, Hospitality Staffing Solutions LLC, seeking unpaid overtime, according to court records. Several Indianapolis hotels were initially included as defendants in the lawsuit but have been dropped from the case.

Filed by Staffing Industry Analysts, a sister company of Workforce Management. To comment, email editors@workforce.com.

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Randstad to Pay $60,000 in EEOC Suit

Randstad US agreed to pay $60,000 to settle a disability bias lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported today. The company allegedly refused to hire Jason O’Dell at its Frederick, Maryland, branch because of his disability; O’Dell suffered from Asperger’s syndrome, according to the EEOC.

O’Dell had applied for a job at Randstad’s Frederick branch and was fast-tracked for a lab technician position, according to the EEOC. However, he was told that the lab technician position had been put “on hold” and not hired after informing the company of his disability, the agency said. However, recruitment for the position continued.

In addition to the $60,000, the settlement also requires Randstad to modify its anti-discrimination policy, provide two hours of on-site training to workers at the company’s Frederick branch, amend its nationwide employment law compliance training, post a notice in all Maryland branches regarding discrimination and permit O’Dell to take 10 classes through the Randstad University Online Training Center.

Filed by Staffing Industry Analysts, a sister company of Workforce Management. To comment, email editors@workforce.com.

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Robert Crouch to Lead Adecco’s North America Operations

Adecco S.A. named Robert Crouch as new regional head of North America effective May 1. He replaces Tig Gilliam, who will pursue a career outside of Adecco.

Crouch had served as CFO of the MPS Group from 2001 until 2010, and had been elected to the MPS board in 2008.

Adecco acquired MPS in 2010. At that time MPS, based in Jacksonville, Florida, ranked as the world’s 13th-largest staffing firm. MPS’ operations included professional staffing and the Beeline, a vendor management system, or VMS, provider.

Crouch played a key role at growing MPS into a company with revenue of $2.2 billion in 2008, according to Adecco. Prior to MPS, Crouch began his career at Arthur Andersen.

“I am delighted to welcome Bob on board,” said Adecco Group CEO Patrick De Maeseneire. “His engaging leadership style, strong track-record in staffing and operational focus will be of great value to further strengthen our leading position in North America. I would like to thank Tig Gilliam for his dedicated commitment and successful contribution to the Adecco Group over the past five years and wish him all the best, both personally and professionally.”

Gilliam had taken over as head of Adecco’s North America operations in October 2009. He had joined the Adecco Group in January 2007 as country manager for the U.S. and Canada.

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Contingent Workers Settle Suit in California

A settlement has been reached in a wage and hour lawsuit by contingent workers against PrO Unlimited and staffing client Juniper Networks Holdings International Inc., a computer networking firm, according to court documents. The workers claimed they did not receive overtime for working more than eight hours a day.

The workers signed employment agreements with PrO and Juniper stating that they were classified as exempt from overtime and were required to track daily work in eight-hour increments, according to the lawsuit. However, the lawsuit argued plaintiffs regularly worked more than eight hours per day.

PrO Unlimited was not able to comment on the case.

The court was notified of the settlement last month, but the suit was first filed in July 2011. It sought to represent all contingent employees who worked at both PrO and Juniper in California.

Named defendants in the lawsuit include Michael Lazarin, who worked as a recruiter from March 2008 to November 2009; Stephen Kohler, who worked as a senior staffing manager from October 2008 through October 2009; and Paul Capano, who worked as a recruiter from August 2008 through January 2010. All three worked at a Juniper location in Sunnyvale, California.

Filed by Staffing Industry Analysts, a sister company of Workforce Management. To comment, email editors@workforce.com.

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Lagging Economy Aside, Interviewees Say the Darndest Things

From job candidates asking what company they were at to one candidate painting graffiti on the employer’s building, CareerBuilder listed some of the most unusual interview experiences based on an online survey of more than 3,000 employers. Here are some of those experiences:

• Candidate brought a “how to interview” book with him to the interview.

• Candidate asked, “What company is this again?”

• Candidate put the interviewer on hold during a phone interview. When she came back on the line, she told the interviewer that she had a date set up for Friday.

• When a candidate interviewing for a security position wasn’t hired on the spot, he painted graffiti on the building.

• Candidate wore a Boy Scout uniform and never told interviewers why.

• Candidate was arrested by federal authorities during the interview when the background check revealed the person had an outstanding warrant.

• Candidate talked about promptness as one of her strengths after showing up 10 minutes late.

• On the way to the interview, the candidate passed, cut-off and flipped his middle finger at the driver who happened to be the interviewer.

• Candidate referred to himself in the third person.

• Candidate took off his shoes during the interview.

• Candidate asked for a sip of the interviewer’s coffee.

• Candidate told the interviewer she wasn’t sure if the job offered was worth “starting the car for.”

Filed by Staffing Industry Analysts, a sister company of Workforce Management. To comment, email editors@workforce.com.

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Average Tech Pay in Silicon Valley Tops $100,000

Silicon Valley technology workers’ average salary rose to more than $100,000 for the first time since the Dice salary survey began 10 years ago, according to Dice Holdings Inc. Tech workers in the Silicon Valley reported their average annual wage rose to $104,195 in 2011, up five percent from the previous year, according to the survey

For the U.S. as a whole, technology workers reported their average annual wage rose to $81,327 in 2011 from $79,384 in 2010, according to the Dice survey. The average bonus rose to $8,769 in 2011, up 8 percent from the previous year. Thirty-two percent of tech workers reported receiving bonuses in 2011, up from 29 percent in 2010.

Austin, Texas, experienced the largest year-over-year jump in average tech wage, up 13 percent to $89,419. It was followed by Portland, Ore., with a 12 percent to $82,055 and Houston with a 7.0 percent increase to $89,307.

Most of the wage increases were by professionals with 11 or more years of experience, according to Dice. Skills that commanded average salaries of $100,000 or more per year included:

  • ABAP — Advanced Business Application programming — $109,157
  • SOA — Service Oriented Architecture — $108,210
  • ETL — Extract Transform and Load — $106,521
  • WebLogic — $103,702
  • JDBC — Java Database Connectivity — $102,630
  • UML — Unified Modeling Language — $102,579
  • JBoss — $102,184
  • WebSphere — $100,348
  • The Dice salary survey was administered online with 18,325 employed technology professionals responding between Sept. 19 and Nov. 21, 2011.

Dice operates career websites for information technology, engineering, financial services and other professionals.