Corporate scandals hurt job recruiting

The almost daily reports of new corporate scandals could exact a significant toll on recruiting efforts, as mistrustful job seekers--recent college graduates in particular--avoid tainted, as well as innocent employers. The biggest area that could see a boost from growing anticorporate sentiment is entrepreneurship, which is attracting increased attention from younger generations, even as fewer workplace veterans start their own businesses, reports Chief Executive Officer John Challenger of the global outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., Chicago.

Among young people who have entered the ranks of the employed, self-employment is beginning to grow again after several years of decline. According to unpublished data obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average number of self-employed workers between the ages of 24-34 reached 1,530,000 in 2004 from a low of 1,443,000 in 2001. Another 310,000 20- to 24-year-olds were self-employed in 2004. That is the highest annual average since 1987.

Other beneficiaries of the attitude shift against private sector employers may be nonprofits and government agencies, which already are

seeing increased interest from job seekers. "The timing could not be better for government employers, who are staring at looming labor shortages. Some agencies will see more than 30% of their workers become eligible for retirement by the end of the 2006 fiscal year," notes Challenger, citing projections from the General Accounting Office.

"Of course, employers in the private sector will be facing many of the same labor shortage issues as their workforces begin to reach retirement age. They are likely to face stiffer competition from public sector employers for the best and the brightest candidates who might be seeking to avoid the private sector, which has come under fire for issues related to accounting practices, governance, and other operational activities."

The Securities and Exchange Commission had 2,929 investigations pending against individuals and companies at the end of the 2003 fiscal year. Of these, 910 were new cases opened that year. In contrast, at the end of FY1999, the SEC had 1,966 pending cases, 520 of which were opened that year.

"These numbers are just from the SEC. Countless other investigations have been launched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Trade Commission, various [state attorneys general] offices, and local agencies. This endless barrage of bad publicity will undoubtedly have adverse effects on job seekers' images of these types of employers," points out Challenger.

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