QualiFind and AgriFind Executive Search is seeing a substantial increase in both new search projects as well as employers that are discussing new leadership hires in Mexico for Q2 and Q3 of this year.  Additionally, we are also seeing a substantial increase in new manufacturing start-ups in northeastern and central Mexico.

President Felipe Calderon recently declared during a presentation at the 9^th Convention of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico that the Mexican economy is on the road to recovery.  He stated:

“In January, there were 34,000 new formal jobs in the country and in February, 129,000 new formal jobs were created that have been registered in the Social Security Institute. This means that until February of this year, 164,000 new jobs were created, and that since June of last year, 270,000 new jobs have been created,” he explained.

These employment figures, he said, reflect the greatest job creation in Mexico since 1996.

President Calderon’s presentation also stressed that Mexico’s main objective at present is the security of citizens and visitors to Mexico and of those that invest in the country. 

“This is precisely why we are making every effort to overcome the greatest threat to the rule of law in our country, namely the various forms of organized crime. And this is precisely why we will continue making this effort, because the rule of law is essential to the growth of any economy,” he said.

Lastly, he stated that in order for Mexico not to occupy second or third place in competitiveness, that “we must reverse this trend and utilize the economic potential of our country’s integration with the United States.  In order to achieve this, it is essential to promote more trade, give a fresh impetus to regional integration as the engine of competiveness, and work on the little details that prevent full integration,” he said.

QualiFind is seeing the increase in maquiladora start-ups in northeastern and central Mexico as being primarily linked to the perception that security in the border region is compromised in such cities as Tijuana, Cd. Juarez, and Nuevo Laredo.  Given this lengthy economic downturn, we welcome all signs of economic renewal in both the US and Mexico.

Some of QualiFind’s partner firms in IRC Global Executive Search Partners are also seeing signs of increased hiring activity that offer optimistic signs of recovery in select countries around the world.

Warren Carter is an Executive Recruiter in Qualifind, Inc. You can share your responses with Warren by e-mail at: wcarter@quali-find.com

Qualifind, Inc. provides professional and executive search services for specific disciplines and industries throughout the U.S. and Mexico. We are a U.S. based firm with our corporate offices in San Diego, California. We have branch offices and recruiting staff in the U.S. (i.e Chicago, Austin) and Mexico (i.e. Monterrey,  Mexico City).

We are seeing positive signs of an economic recovery while at the same time still seeing plenty of signs of lingering problems.  One bright spot in the job market is a marked increase in temporary hires.  The American Staffing Association has indicated that temporary hires of contingent employees has risen by 23% since July 2009.  That percentage equates to 166,000 temp jobs created according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This is fairly typical of what happens in a job market as the economy begins to emerge from a recession.  What appears to be different now, is that many employers are looking to stay flexible in the long term by using contingent talent to manage everything from projects to entire functional departments.  That also means the traditional definition of a “temp” is now expanding from clerical and manual labor roles to engineers, accountants, doctors, lawyers and other professions at all ranks and payscales.

We have also seen our clients inquiring more often about the viability of making some new roles into contingent or consulting-oriented hires. Qualifind, Inc. has had a number of clients convert middle management permanent hire roles into consulting roles.  These clients have done so in order to retain their flexibility during the tumultuous economy and also take advantage of the increase in highly skilled talent that is more readily available.

We don’t necessarily see this happening in Mexico and particularly in the maquiladora industry due to restrictions within Mexican labor law, however we may see an uptick in contingent hires for U.S.-based roles that have responsibility in Mexico.

Warren Carter is an Executive Recruiter in Qualifind, Inc. You can share your responses with Warren by e-mail at: wcarter@quali-find.com

Qualifind, Inc. provides professional and executive search services for specific disciplines and industries throughout the U.S. and Mexico. We are a U.S. based firm with our corporate offices in San Diego, California. We have branch offices and recruiting staff in the U.S. (i.e Chicago, Austin) and Mexico (i.e. Monterrey,  Mexico City).

According to the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC), the executive search industry is experiencing a significant increase in overall revenues.  Despite numerous trouble spots and pitfalls remaining within the global economy, we are optimistic that we may be experiencing the beginning of a recovery.  We are seeing new search assignments in both the U.S. and Mexico. 

QualiFind and AgriFind Executive Search has weathered other recessions (although not as severe as this one) and we are hopefully optimistic that what the AESC is reporting is a bellwether of what is happening in the broader global economy.

The AESC reported in January 2010 that executive search industry revenues in the U.S. rose by 10.5% from July to September 2009 over the prior three months.  Also, the AESC reported that executive search assignments increased by 11% over the prior three months and the revenue per search consultant increased by 12%.

Another positive economic indicator that our agribusiness search practice (AgriFind) mirrored was a small quarterly increase (+1%) in the number of search consultants employed by executive search firms on a global basis.  AgriFind just added a new partner and practice leader due to increased opportunities available in both the U.S. and Mexico. 

The AESC report suggested an end to the massive downsizing experienced by search and recruitment firms since late 2008.  These numbers and our own small increase in building our internal talent resources is expected to bode well for a pending recovery.

However, the AESC report also urged caution due to the large year-on-year declines that are still prevalent across all regions and industry sectors.  Their report indicated that revenues for the search industry dropped as much as 34% from Q3 2008 to Q3 2009.  Let’s hope the recovery continues…

Warren Carter is an Executive Recruiter in Qualifind, Inc. You can share your responses with Warren by e-mail at: wcarter@quali-find.com

Qualifind, Inc. provides professional and executive search services for specific disciplines and industries throughout the U.S. and Mexico. We are a U.S. based firm with our corporate offices in San Diego, California. We have branch offices and recruiting staff in the U.S. (i.e Chicago, Austin) and Mexico (i.e. Monterrey,  Mexico City).

The economic recession has created an ultra-competitive landscape for the unemployed and/or those seeking a career change.  Increased competition for a shrinking number of career opportunities have forced many active candidates to take a second look at how they’re competing in this tight market. 

This process in and of itself is not such a bad thing for employers or candidates.  Employers are able to find higher qualified talent more readily available than ever before.  Candidates are being forced to hone their skill sets, networking strategies and their career planning which will undoubtedly pay them dividends in the longer term.

One of the negative impacts of the recession is that we are seeing a growing number of candidates that are getting increasingly desperate at how they compete.  Two areas seem to be most common – factual changes to the resume and bogus academic credentials. 

Qualifind invested in candidate tracking software back in 2000 and as the technology has evolved, we have continued to upgrade.  Modern applicant tracking systems allow search firms and corporations to build historical data on candidates.  These systems allow the retention of earlier copies of resumes that were submitted in many cases several years prior.  When a current resume is entered into such a system, they are often tied to the older resume by name.  We find that we have to pay particular attention to comparing such resumes side-by-side.  Such comparison often reveals where candidates have made significant changes to dates of employment in order to mask gaps in employment. 

One of the greatest lapses of integrity seems to be candidate’s reporting phony academic degrees.  U.S. based background screening firm EmployeeScreenIQ recently released a new report, “Smoke, Mirrors and Resumes:  The Growing Threat of Diploma Mills” which is also in line with our findings.  EmployeeScreenIQ states that they are finding an explosion of candidates that are listing bogus academic credentials and also in candidates that are purchasing degrees or credentials from “diploma mills”.

The company conducted a test where they requested a master’s degree in economics for its president and COO, Jason B. Morris.  A prominent diploma mill offered to send him a “genuine” diploma for $75 and for an additional payment of $75, the company would provide verification of the education by phone or e-mail.  EmployeeScreenIQ states that they received the diploma within seven days and that it featured raised seals and was printed on the high grade of paper typically used for framing an academic degree.

Many of these so called “diploma mills” have names that are closely related to accredited institutions, so it is important to do your due diligence in the hiring process!  EmployeeScreenIQ provides the full list of these bogus organizations and you can download the free report at:  http://www.employeescreen.com/whitepapers_articles.asp

Warren Carter is an Executive Recruiter in Qualifind, Inc. You can share your responses with Warren by e-mail at: wcarter@quali-find.com  Qualifind, Inc. provides professional and executive search services for specific disciplines and industries throughout the U.S. and Mexico. We are a U.S. based firm with our corporate offices in San Diego, California. We have branch offices and recruiting staff in the U.S. (i.e Chicago, Austin) and Mexico (i.e. Monterrey,  Mexico City).