Accounting, Aerospace & Aviation, Alternative Energy, Banking, Biotechnology, Central US, Chemical, Construction, Contract Staffing, Engineering, Food & Beverage, Healthcare Services, Heavy Equipment, International News, Manufacturing, Marketing, Midwest US, North America, Northeast US, Pacific US, Plastics, Printing & Publishing, Quality Assurance, Sales & Marketing, Southeast US, Southwest US, Telecommunications & Networking, Textiles & Apparel, Transportation, US News

April Is Slow Growing

by  • 

Spring is here, but cooler temperatures and rainy weather seem to have slowed down normal seasonal trends.  “Slight growth” is probably the best way to describe the growth for U.S. manufacturers in April.  The upside is that the overall US economy seems to be very healthy, but manufacturing still is waiting for things to stabilize a little more globally.  Oil prices have moved higher in recent months, and the dollar has weakened against other major currencies.  This, combined with the Federal Reserve indicating a willingness to move slowly on raising short-term interest rates, could also offer some relief for US manufacturers.  The reality is that manufacturing only accounts for a small part of the overall economy, but it’s still big enough that a slowdown in business acts as a bit of a headwind of overall U.S. growth.  Even though US manufacturers have eliminated almost 50,000 jobs since July 2015, they still employ about 12.3 million people and find difficult to locate enough people with the right educational requirements and professional experiences to fill key roles. As the weather heats up, so will the professional employment marketplace.

 

Bruce Peacock
Vice President of Business Development
The Richmond Group USA

Banking, Financial Services, Lending Services, Monthly BLS Report

The Biggest Roadblock to Hiring the Best Candidate (and how to get around it)

by  • 

Have you checked the unemployment rate recently? We’ve gone from 4.9% unemployment to 5.5% unemployment in a quarter, which suggests a fairly robust market.  At least, that’s the 10,000 ft view from our candidate traffic helicopter we call the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.  But, what does that really mean at the street level — for your bank and your team?

We have the opportunity of talking with clients and candidates from coast to coast.  Interestingly enough, every bank we talk to is feeling the same frustration — as the economy begins to get better, they have a mandate to grow, but finding a qualified candidate seems to be next to impossible.

Where is this roadblock coming from, and how can you get around it?  Once you hear what the qualified candidates are saying, you’ll better understand the major shift in the way candidates think about new job opportunities in banking.

The biggest roadblock may come as no surprise: the fear of instability.  As a candidate in Tennessee recently confided, “No matter what frustrations I’m feeling here, I’m always worried I’ll go to a bank that will end up selling in a year or two, and I might be right back in the same situation.  “The devil you know is better than the angel you don’t.”  This is a common fear among community bankers, but it’s also felt among candidates from larger institutions thinking about making a move into regional and community banking.

Many candidates who were in banking at the time the Recession hit know this fear better than anyone.  The fear of going somewhere that is a great culture fit, only to be absorbed by a bank with a totally different culture; or worse, displaced after an acquisition that turns into a never ending string of not being able to settle into the right job.

Of course, there is no company out there that can promise it isn’t for sale; however, for the majority of banks, selling is not even on the radar screen.  Simply articulating this point to a candidate makes a difference.

This is something most hiring managers take for granted, so it’s rarely addressed at any stage of the hiring process.  The concern of job stability, if consistently addressed head-on in the first interaction, will remove the largest roadblock preventing many candidates from even getting on the road.

Suddenly, that mandate to continue growing your market with top quality candidates will become much more possible.

Construction, US News

Construction employment up across U.S.

by  • 

Construction Employment Up Across U.S.Across the country, employment in the construction industry is looking up.

Between March 2015 and March 2016, construction employment increased in 44 states, according to the Associated General Contractors of America.

Leading the pack was California, which added 39,000 construction jobs over the year, followed by Florida, New York and Massachusetts. In terms of employment growth, Hawaii added the highest percentage of new construction jobs during the year, with industry employment in the state growing 20.9 percent.

The five states that posted construction employment declines over the year where all states heavily involved with the energy industry, which has been hit hard by falling fuel prices, AGC explained.

“The only soft spots in construction demand and employment are in states that rely on energy extraction for a large segment of their economy,” said Ken Simonson, AGC chief economist.

Builder Online noted that between February and March of this year, 28 states added new construction jobs. Pennsylvania added the most jobs in this period, gaining 6,000 new positions, followed by Georgia, Illinois and Colorado. West Virginia had the highest growth in construction jobs, with a 4.5 percent increase in new positions.

Healthcare Services, Life Sciences, US News

Wearable tech market grows, cutting costs for healthcare

by  • 

Wearable tech market growsWearable technology is set to transform the healthcare industry, according to experts.

Digital health tools will play a larger role in healthcare in 2016, according to Healthcare IT News, and wearable devices that track individual health such as Fitbit will be one of these tools with the most significant impact on the industry.

One in five Americans currently owns a wearable tech device, Digital Trends reported, and that number is only expected to skyrocket. By 2020, the wearables market is expected to grow by 411 million units.

These devices are already showing a sizeable impact on user health. Employees who wear a Fitbit or other type of wearable tech every day have a 44 percent drop in sick days, according to new findings from the Northwestern University School of Professional Studies, Digital Trends reported.

Wearable tech is also generating big savings for the industry. The researchers found that individuals who use the devices have saved 18 percent on healthcare. They also discovered that if employees continue wearing the devices every day for the next 25 years, hospital costs could be slashed by $200 billion.

Wearables will also improve the ways in which health professionals collect biometric data and monitor patient health, noted Healthcare IT News.

Chemical, Construction, Engineering, Manufacturing, Metals and Minerals, Mining, Placement Annoucements, Plastics

Zach Price & TRG Manufacturing Complete Successful Search

by  • 

(Richmond, VA) April 22, 2014 – The Richmond Group USA is excited to announce the successful completion of a search for a Lead Electrical Engineer in Richmond, VA.

Our client, a global manufacturing of specialty ingredients, plans to start construction of a $60M process facility in Henrico County. Our team recognized the crucial need and acted with urgency to meet our client’s aggressive timetable to build its first manufacturing plant in the United States.

We were engaged to find an electrical engineer with industrial plant instrumentation, automation and electrical controls experience. Tasked with not only pre construction and building project responsibilities, the right candidate needed a complete technical background to support the start-up, commission and long term operational needs of our client.

Zach Price and his team worked closely with our client’s Project Director, Construction Manager and other leadership through the entire process. We were able to identify and attract a strong electrical engineer in the Richmond area with the right mix of industrial plant experience, strong electrical instrumentation knowledge who also has experience working for an international manufacturer. The candidate thrived in his previous role yet was eager to land his next opportunity due to a major acquisition of his current employer. We were able to secure an offer and start date that pleased both parties and allowed the candidate to continue employment without a disruption in employment.

The search was a success due to the professionalism, competence and cooperation of all parties involved in the hiring process. We would like to thank everyone who helped make this successful hire!

Should you desire additional information or about our firm please contact Zach Price & TRG Manufacturing division at 804-285-2071 or email Zach at zachp@richgroupusa.com

Aerospace & Aviation

Fueled by solar power, experimental plane Solar Impulse 2 takes off

by  • 

Fueled by solar power, experimental plane Solar Impulse 2 takes offAfter a long delay, the Solar Impulse 2 – an experimental plane fueled by clean technology – finally took off again from Hawaii early on the morning of April 21 to re-start its journey around the world.

CNN reported that the plane piloted by Bertrand Piccard, a Swiss explorer and psychiatrist, finally hit the runway this week after a nearly 10-month delay on the island of Oahu. The journey first began in March 2015 and was originally set to land in Abu Dhabi by the end of last summer.

After an unanticipated diversion to Japan during the initial phase of the journey, Swiss engineer Andre Borschberg, who take turns flying the plane with Piccard, set a new solo flight record. Last July, the flight from Japan to Hawaii took 117 hours and 52 minutes – breaking the record for the longest duration nonstop solo flight while also unintentionally causing extensive damage to the plane batteries.

Though it took nine months of repair, this week the plane was ready to begin the estimated 62-hour journey from the island to the Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View, California. Weighing about the same as a mid-size SUV with the wingspan of a Boeing 747, the solar-powered plane requires near-perfect weather conditions to fly, according to NPR.

Following several stops in the U.S., the team hopes to cross the Atlantic Ocean and return to the Middle East by late summer to complete the 27,000 mile trip around the world, all while promoting clean technology.

“We have built an experimental aircraft that we use to explore not only altitudes, but also unknown territories within the realm of clean technology and creative team building,” the team said in a statement.