Manpower Seeks Skilled Professionals in Albany
Tuesday, December 11th, 2012
Even with unemployment in the Albany metro area at a stubbornly high 9.3 percent in October, employers are struggling to find qualified people. According to Stacie Wills, manager of the Albany office of Manpower, a national leader in the staffing industry, the biggest challenge her team faces is finding people who want to work.
"We screen our candidates through background and reference checks, interviews and testing. Many times candidates don't show up for scheduled interviews, don't finish their paperwork or don't answer their phones or return calls," Wills said.
Manpower has had an Albany branch for more than 25 years and recently moved into new office space on Nottingham Way. According to Wills, activity in the Albany office has grown steadily in 2012 after taking a significant hit during the recent recession.
"I'd say we're 75 percent back to where we were before the recession hit," Wills said.
Manpower offers a range of human resource-related solutions including recruitment and assessment, training and development and career management, to outsourcing and workforce consulting. It maintains a network of nearly 3,900 offices in 80 countries and serves on average 400,000 clients per year, including small and medium-sized enterprises, local, multinational and global companies.
Attracting Skilled, Professional Candidates
The Albany branch moved to Nottingham Way in order to update its offices to be consistent with the level of service and professionalism across the Manpower network, according to Wills. The space is more open, colorful and upbeat.
"It's an up and coming office area and we think that will help us attract high-end candidates. Staffing companies sometimes get a bad rap as people pushers when Manpower typically works with people who want long-term employment," Wills said.
Much of the growth in the Albany office this year has come in the production and warehouse sectors, administrative, healthcare and in professional fields such as accounting.
"Many times Albany area residents don't think of us as a place that can help them find permanent employment but we can. We do have short-term and temporary jobs but we also place candidates directly with companies," Wills said.
Working With Local Schools
One of the branch's goals for 2013 is to start working more closely with Albany Tech, Albany State University and other local schools. The schools are a good source of qualified candidates for area employers.
"We do work with them already to help place their graduates and we hope to do more in the future," Wills said.
For more information on Manpower in Albany, call (229) 883-2428 or visit them on Facebook at Manpower Albanyga.
