👋 Hi there! We got an out of office auto-reply email on Monday that we thought was *chef’s kiss* perfect …

“Hello! This working parent is not working today and just parenting as my kids are home from school due to the President's Day holiday. This means I'll be slow to reply to emails. I will be back in my role as working parent on Tuesday and will reply to your email then. Thanks for understanding!”

Per her last email, let’s give it up for all the TA pros who juggle second full-time jobs as super-parents. We see you! 👏 🦸 

Questions? Comments? Other feedback? Let us know. We’d love to hear from you.

— Team RecruitmentMarketing.com ✨

Today’s edition is a 5-minute read. Here’s what to expect👇

🗞️ Data shows productivity uptick
🧑‍💼 Engineering grads bring in the big bucks
💻 Insomnia Cookies, Oak Street Health are hiring for TA roles
📋 Morgan Stanley, Nike announce layoffs

Did someone forward you this email? Sign up here 📥️

An article by The New York Times’ Federal Reserve reporter Jeanna Smialek revisited the reasons behind the last worker productivity boom in 1990s and drew comparisons to the world of work we’re seeing today.

An economic deja vu.
For the first time in years, official productivity data are showing a big pickup. This has economists wondering if the dawn of new technologies and certain economic conditions — all of which mirror the climate that supported a boom back in the ‘90s — are factors contributing to an economic surge that’s here to stay.

Productivity as a 🔑 economic indicator.
You may be wondering how economists measure “productivity.” A fair question! Productivity is an economic indicator that measures both efficiency and output, and peaks when the two are working harmoniously. Higher productivity = more product per worker, and more product per worker = the ability to pay better wages without having to raise prices or sacrifice profits. TLDR; a steady pickup in worker productivity could allow the economy to really take off.

From iMacs to AI.
The article looked back at the conditions that contributed to the productivity uptick back in the ‘90s. One major factor: Computers. A study on the ‘90s boom found that increased access to online information accounted for approximately two-thirds of the era’s pickup. This begs the question: Could today’s equivalent be AI? While many economists warn it might still be early to determine, advocates argue that automating time-consuming tasks could effectively free up time and boost productivity.

Inflation and commerce and entrepreneurship booms, oh my!
Several other conditions point to parallels between now and the ‘90s. For one, inflation had been cooling for years by the middle of the decade, which meant that companies could no longer raise prices without losing customers, and instead were forced to focus on productivity as a means to maintain profits. Also in the ‘90s: A commerce boom driven by optimizing supply chain management by companies like Walmart, and an uptick in entrepreneurship as people capitalized on technological breakthroughs. Sounds oddly familiar to the economic factors we see today, huh? In recent years, we’ve witnessed cooling inflation numbers, a surging e-commerce market, and a spike in applications for new businesses, the article points out.

What about remote work?
The jury is largely out on whether or not remote work helps or hurts productivity. But when the Times interviewed Stanford University economist Nicholas Bloom, he predicted that “remote work is midway through unleashing a decade-long productivity boom,” pointing out that it saves workers commuting time, makes them happier, and allows companies to move more “tedious” roles abroad.

📥 Read more from The New York Times

NUMBERS

Numbers That’ll Make You Think

• 1 in 3 — The ratio of job seekers who say they value compensation above all else in the recruitment process, according to staffing firm Onward Search’s 2024 salary guide (Onward Search)

• 51% — The percentage of workers who say interviewing for jobs is a more exhausting endeavor than dating, according to a new Glassdoor survey (Glassdoor Blog)

• $76,736 — The projected salary of college graduates majoring in engineering from the class of 2024, the highest-paid group of majors and up from $74,405 in 2023 (SIA)

• 70% — The percentage of HR leaders surveyed by Wall Street Prep who believe new junior employees to financial services firms do not have the skills or preparation to "hit the ground running” in their roles (HR Dive)

• 80% — The percentage of people that believe job-related videos give them “a better grasp of the role they’re pursuing,” according to a new guide from programatic job platform Recruitics (RecruitmentMarketing.com)

OPEN ROLES VIA TALENTCONNECT

Jobs You Might Want (For Yourself!)

• Health care network Oak Street Health is hiring a talent acquisition senior associate, based in Chicago, IL

• Bakery chain Insomnia Cookies is hiring a human resources generalist, based in Philadelphia, PA

• Staffing agency Ultimate Staffing is hiring a recruiting coordinator, based in Irvine, CA.

• Pet retail distributor Pet Food Experts is hiring a talent acquisition coordinator, based in Providence, RI

• Waste management company Athens Services is hiring a senior vice president of human resources, based in Los Angeles, CA

• Recruitment firm Hirewell is hiring a vice president human resources, based in Pittsburgh, PA

  
  For a full list of open talent acquisition roles, check out TalentConnect, a job board for TA-lent, powered by RecruitmentMarketing.com

A MESSAGE FROM TRANSFORM

Transform 2024: Shaping the future world of work, together

Looking for the right conference to attend where you and your teams can connect with like-minded innovators, people leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors? Look no further! Transform is a three-day event bringing together human connection, powerful content, inspiring speakers and sessions, and much more!

As a valued subscriber, we’d like to extend a special invitation for you to join us at Transform at Wynn Las Vegas on March 11-13, 2024. Get $200 off by using the special link below.

P.S. Are you heading to transform? RecruitmentMarketing.com would love to meet with you while you’re there. Fill out this form here so we can meet up.

👉️ Claim your spot now!

LAYOFFS

Places For You To Source Fresh Talent

• Food tech company Toast said it will cut 550 roles, or 10% of its workforce (CNBC)

• Sportswear giant Nike said it will cut 2% of its headcount — over 1,500 workers — to lower costs as demand weakens (Fortune)

• Financial services firm Morgan Stanley cut several hundred employees in its wealth management division (WSJ)

• Tech behemoth Google initiated significant layoffs across its various teams, including the Voice Assistant, hardware, engineering and ad sales teams (Yahoo Finance)

• Scottish gaming developer Build A Rocket Boy, which raised $110 million just over four weeks ago, said it is now “removing a number of roles globally” (Game Developer)

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

Before You Go … Other Things To Know

• Dating platform Bumble added industry vet David Ard to its new leadership team (LinkedIn)

• Employee background check platform HireRight has agreed to be fully acquired by the private-equity firms that already own about three quarters of the company (WSJ)

• Logistics platform Uber Eats is looking at robots to begin delivering food in Japan, in a partnership with Mitsubishi (CNN)

• Contributor LaKeisha Fleming weighs in on the pros and cons of leveraging social media’s huge user base to recruit passive candidates on the down low (RecruitmentMarketing.com)

• Content marketing director Rod Hess reports the soft skills you should master to stay in demand despite AI disruption (RecruitmentMarketing.com)

DEALS

Exclusive Deals For You and Your TA Team

• Access free trails for ZoomInfo, BreezyHR, Freshcaller, and Humi, available exclusively to subscribers this week

 👋 Thanks for reading!