GTE Corp., for instance, which formerly used outside recruiting agencies, formed its own in-house recruiting agency with seven recruiters dedicated to hiring IS personnel. One of the best recruiting sources is employees themselves. When not using zoo animals, Thomson Financial Services relies heavily on employees to find technical talent in the competitive Boston market. Bringing the zoo to company grounds for a day was worth the trouble and expense, says Robert D. Quinn, Thomson's manager of employment. He adds that since HR increased internal marketi ng of the program, new hires via employee referrals have risen from 20 percent of total hires to 34 percent.
Referrals are now the number-one source of new employees.
I n some areas, the labor shortage is so dire that companies have to recruit from other parts of the country. When the goal is to attract employees from outside the region, promoting the company isn't enough. The group's advertising campaign included radio spots in Silicon Valley and the Southeast and direct mail appeals to Nebraska expat riates. The Omaha consortium, called the Applied Information Institute, includes Union Pacific Railroad, Inacom and others. It tries to grow its own talent as well by offering internships and other support to attract students to technology fields, according to Ro ger Dillon, senior manager of Union Pacific's sourcing office.