Staffing Agencies Adapt to High Economic Tides

In this robust economy, demand is high for skilled work. As the Business Journal’s annual list of local staffing firms below confirms, the region’s top five agencies — Alpha Omega Professionals in Sherman Oaks, Burbank-based Global Service Resources Inc., Mediscan Staffing Services in Woodland Hills, Glendale’s Adecco USA Inc. and Career Strategies Temporary Services Inc. in Woodland Hills — inject more than 7,400 college-educated employees into the marketplace each week. The Deborah Shapiro-headed Alpha Omega alone dispatches 5,060 temporary and temporary-to-permanent workers to fill companies’ gaps in such fields as administrative, engineering and janitorial across the San Fernando Valley. Although founded in New York and headquartered in Menlo Park, Robert Half, an international company with a sizable local presence, also sends out professionals specializing in accounting, finance, administrative, IT, legal and even web design. The staffing industry itself is competitive. Known as America’s largest and oldest staffing agency, Robert Half has been in business since 1948. Yet in the Valley, it must contend with direct competition from smaller agencies like Aerotek Inc. (No. 6 on the Business Journal’s list) in Northridge, which dispatches 81 people weekly to absorb accounting, health care, manufacturing, architecture, aviation and defense openings; and Royal Staffing Services (No. 9) in Sherman Oaks, which deploys 40 to fill open positions in government, education, financial, real estate and marketing. “Clients feel comfortable coming to us,” said Alexandra Von Tiergarten, regional vice president at Robert Half, who oversees her company’s stations from the Valley to Santa Barbara. She attributes this comfort to Robert Half’s longevity and stability. “We’re always trying to figure out better ways to serve our clients and our candidates,” Von Tiergarten said. “When a lot of competitors try to fill too much, they struggle with what they do. Our candidates have to trust us; they’re putting their careers in our hands.” Von Tiergarten came aboard at Robert Half in March 2003, right as risk consultant group Arthur Andersen was folded into the company and businesses were emerging from “the phase of faxing resumes,” she said. Across her 15 years there, she has witnessed industries transformed by technology. Today, her firm uses software like Salesforce and her professionals “use social media as a big tool. They have to have LinkedIn profiles.” A staffing firm’s function takes on different meanings to companies during hard times and in good times. In a recessionary market, companies seek out temps as a cost-cutting solution while downsizing. “Clients can end them whenever they can’t afford them,” she said. “In the economy we’re in today, (a company knows) that they’re probably not going to get the same candidate to stay (beyond six months).” Filling demand Von Tiergarten supervises 50 staffers and three product lines out of Robert Half offices in Burbank, Woodland Hills, Westlake Village, Oxnard and Santa Barbara. The office managers at each specialize in a different field. Out of Robert Half’s Burbank location, Branch Manager Angelica Thompson oversees subset brands Accountemps and Office Team, dispatching temp, temp-to-hire and permanent hire candidates. With unemployment down to 4.1 percent in California and 3.7 percent nationally, according to October data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “the demand of candidates is outweighing the supply,” Thompson said. “You’ve got a lot of companies looking for people. One out of three permanent employees are leaving their jobs because there are a lot of positions out there. They’re getting calls from recruiters (and being poached). Lately, it’s been pretty often. We can place an interim candidate while they’re seeking permanent candidates.” The last thing a thriving company wants is high turnover, Thompson said. “It brings down the morale of the company. With us providing salaried professionals, they’re not losing that professional,” she explained. Demand is currently high from manufacturing and distribution companies from Van Nuys to Valencia, according to Von Tiergarten and Thompson. “We’re seeing demand in Lancaster as well,” Von Tiergarten said. Santa Clarita has Fortune 500 companies and medical and biotechs setting up shop, Thompson said, so they’re demanding educated workers skilled in accounting and human resources. Antelope Valley is in even more dire need of candidates, Thompson continued, because “there’s definitely less supply of candidates out there than in metro Los Angeles.”