In the current economy, which has low unemployment along with labor shortages, staffing agencies are in higher demand. But, the staffing industry tends to be hurt when the economy swings to either extreme, Thorn said. When there are high levels of unemployment, growth is constrained by a lack of orders. At this point, we do not anticipate a deep economic slump. We have seen some slowdown in the light industrial arena.
Diversity appears to be key to the company's strategy.
Hobart offers a variety of staffing and professional services covering areas such as general administrative and clerical, light industrial, information management, health care, legal and now court reporting. Thorn said the recruitment and matching processes vary because of the range of services the group offers. For instance, the process for finding light industrial workers is more basic than for Hobart's other services. Recruiting for general services positions, including legal secretaries and nonclinical medical, includes a mix of newspaper advertisement, referrals, job fairs and the Internet. On the other end, the Internet is the primary recruitment tool for high-end programmers and other information management positions that Hobart Information Technology Systems fills.