My bosses can’t tell me how to live… Can they?

The economic outlook remains gloomy. Many employers are still laying off. The staff who is left is working, work longer hours than ever before. More work = less personal time. While personal time diminishes, is personal choice also diminishing? Workplace rules & laws are getting stricter all the time. They are covering more and more of what used to be looked at as personal choices.

These factors contribute to the blurring lines between work life and personal life.

Lets look at some numbers:

Nearly all companies have an IT policy preventing employees from using the companies’ resources for personal online use. In spite of these bans a study released October 14th of this year, shows that 50% of workers say they will shop while at work this holiday season. 10% of these workers will spend at least 30 hours shopping online. Company policies vary, but consequences for violations can be harsh.

Concerned about your rights to privacy in your company computer? Your safest bet is to assume you don’t have any and don’t look for federal government protection. Federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) states an employer-provided computer system is the property of the employer. California allows for some minor adjustments. In general employees can expect very little electronic privacy on company owned computer equipment. Don’t risk termination or disciplinary action; limit your personal computer use to your personal time. Make sure you are familiar with your company’s IT policy. Ask you HR department to provide you with your company’s policy if you are unsure.

Employers don’t stop with company owned computer equipment. Some employers are now attempting to ban obesity in the workplace.  The numbers behind this decision are staggering. Employers with a BMI greater then 40 (18.5 to 24.9 BMI is normal) had 11.7 workers comp claims per 100 workers, compared to 5.8 claims per 100 for normal BMI employees.

Injuries aren’t the only costs. Health benefit costs to employers has SKYROCKETED due to employees with obesity related conditions. The average health spending for the 15 most expensive obesity -related condition climbed 55 percent form 97-05.

Think you are protected against your employer’s decisions regarding obesity? Think again. Discrimination laws very narrowly define protected classes of workers. Only Michigan and DC protect overweight workers. To many employers’ credit, they are working with health care companies to design programs to help employees lose weight. Initiatives include gym memberships, discounted weight loss programs and more mundane solutions such as serving fruit at morning meeting rather than pastries.

Employers aren’t the only ones pushing change in personal choices at work. Many states & localities have a ban on smoking in the workplace. American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation says that currently 71% of the US population lives under a smoking ban of some kind. Many of these bans are administered by OSHA. Employers: ignore enforcement at your own peril.

Are the positions these employers and enforcement agencies taking too paternalistic? These statutes that have been challenged in court, and the courts are upholding the employers decisions. Whatever your personal opinion of these “intrusive” rulings, your employer is still within his/her rights to make these personal choices for you.

Q3 Survey Analysis – July 2009

Another quarter, this one shows an increasing number of establishments becoming profitable! I understand June was as usual an iffy month for many but not as bad as expected. Seems like all the positive talk and the increase in the stock markets just maybe having a positive impact. With GDP contracting for 4 consecutive quarters, the saying only the strong survive has an entirely new meaning. More than strength is required, foresight and a solid conservative bent are also needed. I suspect that keeping EQUITY within a company, enabling it to weather tough times, will have an entirely reinforced band of supporters. The practice of distributions to owners at all costs being the loser.
The first draft of the GDP numbers came out indicating the contraction was 1% in the 2nd quarter. The second and third drafts will likely show that is a conservative number. The latter part of July appears to be showing promise however!
Lets get into the numbers-
Profitability: 59% profitable definitely an improvement from the 53% profitable we reported last survey. We suspect intelligent cost cutting and controls have had an impact- those that use labor and other resources wisely win in this environment. The question regarding business increasing or decreasing over the last two weeks reflects the Independence Day holiday. From our vantage point, we suspect the reduction in sales was normal or less than normal – a positive.
One sign companies are very cautious is the caution in sales expectations- with a 4% drop in the numbers of companies expecting sales to increase this coming quarter. Time will tell if we are at the bottom or even starting the recovery of this recession, but one sign that is positive is the hiring expectations of companies has increased. Considering also the source of this hiring is referrals from internal staff, we suspect rehires are happening as demand warrants.

With all the talk on health care federally, we see for the first time in several surveys a reduction in concern for healthcare costs (in several cases we are hearing of reduced premiums per worker this renewal season!). Base pay, workers comp and state requirements all show hefty increase in concerns. When will the powers that be understand to DECREASE costs in labor will INCREASE hiring rates? Seems very simple for most to understand.
For additional results please download the survey results provided-

We have enclosed the entire Survey results below, if you have questions or would like to see additional areas explored please let me know.

daver@semperllc.com Semper

Click here to view the Survey, PDF Format (http://www.semperllc.com/index.cfm?page=president)

Flexible Staffing explained

These days we’ve been hearing a lot of:

 

“I’m not hiring.  I definitely don’t need temps.” 

“I’m trying to keep my payroll costs down!”

“We just laid off a bunch of staff.  We don’t need your services now.”

“We ran an ad for that position and got over 500 resumes”

 

In all of the above scenarios, a quality flexible staffing firm could not only simplify the life of the contact, but also increase the productivity and efficiency of the organization, and help keep costs low during an economic period where the bottom line is everything!

 

How?

 

Here is how flexible staffing works:

 

We offer 4 services to meet your staffing needs.

 

Flex: 

(Temp) We charge an hourly bill rate.  You bring our employee in for as many or as few hours as your production dictates.  Good for production overflow, employee leave coverage, production coverage during employee search, etc.  This service is particularly useful during economic downturns or for organizations with lean payroll models.  Keep your core staff, those few people that are a must, that you invested time and money in training and developing. Run on a lean payroll of just your core.  During times of low production, your payroll cost is also low.  During times of high production, bring in our flex team to cover the overage.  You have successfully changed a traditionally fixed business cost into a variable cost, allowing you more control over what you spend during different business cycles.

 

Flex can always and at any time become a Flex-to-hire.  So if you fall in love with the person…

 

Flex-to-Hire:  

1. Once, and if, you decide to hire, there is a conversion fee based on employee’s base annual salary and time spent as a temp.  Also useful when you would like to hire a full-time candidate but aren’t 100% sure production will continue at its current level.  Keep the candidate flex until your doubts are dispelled, providing more security for you, the employee, and the organization!

 

 

Pay rolling:  

Similar to Flex-to-Hire except this time YOU found the candidate.  Say you meet 

1. Nice huh? Additionally, payrolling could be used to manage your own freelance or contract staff.  No more headaches of adding people temporarily to your payroll or worrying about 1099 employees.  Drop them on our payroll, we’ll handle everything! Payrolling is generally done at a 40% mark up.

 

 

Direct Hire:  

1. Our fee is generally a percentage of the employee’s base annual salary.

 

Ok, that being said…There’s more!  

 

Bill rates include:  

Unemployment costs, workman’s compensation, payroll, recruitment, screening, taxes, and our EXTENSIVE LIABILITY INSURANCE!  I know you don’t want to let any schmoe near your equipment.  We’ve got the insurance to cover any mishaps to your press or work in case a schmoe gets by, however unlikely!!

 

Trial Guarantee:  

I frown upon client interviews.  We’ve interviewed them.  Why do you have to do it again?  That’s why you pay us!  So, bring the guy in for his first day of work.  While under our liability insurance umbrella, see what he can do.  If within the first two hours you realize this guy doesn’t know a press from a broom handle, send him home…NO CHARGE.  However, if you discover he is the dynamo we say he is, you got yourself a guy without having to wait through an interview process.  Production continues…life is grand.

 

Semper offers these services to our clients, but if you have an existing relationship with an agency be sure you are taken full advantage of all the benefits they can offer you.

 

PIA member? Ask about our member discount programs!

 

By working together to find a solution to best fit the need of your organization, Semper can prove to be a valuable partner during these times. In difficult times, it is essential we all work together for the good of the industry, its companies, and its workers.

 

If you would like to see who is available, please visit www.semperllc.com or call 877-377-4687 and speak to a local placement coordinator.  Whether you have a need today or want to plan for the future, we look forward to serving you!

Staffing is a leading indicator

Saving monies and being lean are on everyones radar of late. With labor being such a large component of costs what is your competition doing
to keep costs low? How do the industry leaders gain competitive advantage in this area?

Did you know flex staffing s a “leading indicator? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leading_Indicators#Types_of_Indicators)

Have you ever noticed how orders tend to come in clumped together? Like cars at a toll booth or a pocket of traffic on a highway?

How can you use these observations and tips to your companies advantage???

Email me your questions and I would be  more then happy to respond  Always@semperllc.com

Dave Regan 

CEO

Semper

Semper International™ Introduces Google Lively To Interactive Media Job Recruiting Services

First multimedia job staffing firm in Second Life™ expands services at Semperllc.com/lively

 

    Semper International™, a leading printing, graphics and interactive media staffing firm, today announced its use of Google Lively, the latest web-based virtual environment and social networking application.  Semper was the world’s first staffing firm to use Second Life ™ as a recruiting platform and its entry into Lively confirms Semper’s commitment to cutting edge interactive and multimedia job recruiting.  

    “Virtual worlds continue to draw our attention,” said Brian Regan, president of Semper International LLC. “At Semper, we look at them from a marketing standpoint; but we’re also using them to enhance our internal process and how we interact with ourselves as well as our clients and candidates.”  

    Google Lively (www.lively.com) is a user-friendly virtual world described by Google as “a chat experience in which you can communicate and express yourself using avatars in your very own space.”  Semper has created a variety of rooms in Lively for conducting interviews, as well as integrating a main public room into the Semper website (http://www.semperllc.com/lively/).  Semper recognizes the importance of meeting the needs of a new breed of job applicants and is committed to matching staffing profiles in a compatible landscape.  As they’ve accomplished with their Second Life™ location, Semper will utilize Lively as an internal collaborative tool as well as establishing its external role as an interactive space for multimedia and video game job seekers.

    “Virtual spaces like Second Life and Lively create interesting opportunities for social interaction. Lively and its chat-room style approach will enhance initial interviews and eventually help our recruiters work with interactive media job applicants as they register through our website,” says Regan.  Semper refuses to play catch-up with major technology shifts, preferring to map new ground, establishing new industry templates along the way.  While Regan is quick to point out that Lively is “not quite advanced enough to be used as a business grade application,” he recognizes “a clear potential for consolidation. The ease with which we can integrate the chat room to a web page makes its widespread use a no-brainer – especially when interacting with Digital Natives.”

    Semper’s global strategy is to continue to identify and establish new and better ways of reaching the widest spectrum of online multimedia job applicants.  The integration of virtual worlds like Google Lively is only the beginning of a long term adventure.  

 

 

Semper's public Lively room

 

 

Google Lively Rooms on my Ning site

This is a pretty cool option from a 2D social network meetings a 3D social network sort of way. Google Lively gives you the code to add your room(s) to your website. I tested it out on one of my Ning sites and not only could you have one running but multible Lively rooms running at the same time.

I can see this option as a nice customer service tool for many companies websites. It works very well from the social network stand point and with more than one room option it can be a blast for those multitaskers like me.

Hmmm… Interview rooms and client/applicant interaction areas.

Very cool option

 

Check it out here – CLICK ME

Semper’s Q2 Survey Analysis – April 2008

First, Thank You all for the huge number of responses. 

We honestly use this survey as a benefit for the industry in general 

and not for commercial reasons.

 

I think we all can be glad the first quarter is over; except for the fact that the 

second quarter, so far, seems to be even worse then the first. The last 2 

months have seen a severe contraction in most areas of the economy and 

in all geographic areas. The Fed’s actions last Summer came several sessions 

too late to avoid this contraction. The relentless negativity from the media over 

the last two years reached a crescendo of hysteria in August that has scarcely 

abated till just recently. We all are grateful for the news media’s recent more 

positive bias!!

 

A Big question now is have the stock markets hit bottom? If so, then the 

recovery will be approximately six months from that bottom. If you look at the 

current stock charts for Apple, the Dow and the NASDAQ over the last two 

years, It appears that we have hit the bottom and are on the upturn (barring 

another terrorist shock). If the charts are correct, then we should start to see 

improvements as early as September – October. Flex Staffing tends to be a 

leading indicator, like the stock market, so we at Semper should see improvement 

three to four months after the bottom. We will let you know. 

 

Another BIG change in the Industry this year was the demise of Annual report 

printing. One manager I spoke to, mentioned that last year they printed 100 Annual 

reports- this season only four. The result of the SEC allowing companies to post 

the reports “online.” This single change has had a huge negative impact in that 

segment of the industry. I think of what will happen to Blockbuster and the movie 

theatre chains once the movie studios release first run movies directly online. It 

will likely be a similar issue- MAYBE I should sell any holdings.

 

Now to the survey results:

 

As you recall, the results are in the new easier to read and understand format 

which reduces the need for commentary.

 

The question on profitability I am sure is high on everyone’s list. The trend line is 

clearly indicative of the stress we would expect to see ; this is a MACRO issue 

not just your firm.

 

The question on profitability I am sure is high on everyone’s list. The trend line 

is clearly indicative of the stress we would expect to see ; this is a MACRO issue 

not just your firm.

 

The hiring question reinforces the above two responses. Hiring has dropped off, 

but it seems staying at the same staffing level is the course most firms are going 

with. Maybe others agree that things will improve sooner than later. (br>

Clearly, keeping expenses limited is on everyone’s mind, with base pay and benefit 

costs showing big jumps in concern from respondents. Supply costs in general are 

now the largest percent concern of firms as opposed to technology issues.

 

In closing, we see positive news here in the expectations of sales for this quarter. 

Take a close look at the actual results and feel free to ask questions or give 

feedback – daver@semperllc.com

 

Click here to view the Survey:

http://www.semperllc.com/printing_survey/Semper_Survey_2008_Q2.pdf

                                                                  

Thank You

Cost saving strategies for slow economic cycles

The continued dismal economic news from the MEDIA harpies is definitely becoming a reality. Things are getting really tough out there!

We have some answers for you-  Flex Staffing – It saves hard cash by allowing you to pay for labor when you need it and not a second longer.

Imagine if your press payment or office lease payment was like that.

How does Flex Staffing work? You call us when you have a need and we send skilled professionals out. We bill you for the hours worked. The bill rate includes Work Comp, all payroll taxes and benefits. Many clients call us for the hourly rate and use that information to help bid jobs.

The idea is to treat Staffing as a flexible cost. Over time, it can save your company huge dollars. Even when the economy is slow, you get demand spikes. This is when we can help – Semper = Always. We will Always work our best to help you meet your clients demands. With many firms cutting back, the need for extra staff is even more critical and keeping clients satisfied is ever more important to your success. 

Last week we had an interesting experience with a Sir Speedy in the Southern California area. They needed a Docutech operator for a four week assignment.  The bill rate per hour was quoted as 23.50, which included all Payroll costs and insurance. The client told us he normally pays 16 per hour to his worker and had trouble paying us more then that amount. Believe it our not we run into this fairly frequently with clients. In this case we pointed out that there are costs associated with payroll above and beyond the base rate. These costs include Work Comp., Unemployment insurance, benefit costs (Health, Dental, 401 K, LTD, Vacation and Holiday- these usually add on 30 % in most states, but at least 35% in California. And this doesn’t include liability, Theft Bond or Professional errors and omission insurance costs we provide for each of our workers). So the client was realistically paying a minimum of 16 x 1.30 = 20.80 already and was unwilling to pay the additional 2.70 (108.00 per week) that would cover our additional costs and charge per hour.  The client felt they would try covering the period with over time and  having other workers try and keep the machine running with a monthly cost of $297.61. http://www.secinfo.com/dV179.96w.9.htm#1stPage It could be bringing in a contribution significantly higher per week.

We honestly do our best trying to explain but sometimes we fail – the is a reason they have that famous saying about throwing the baby out with the bath water – Some people are under so much stress to save a penny they definitely can hurt themselves which likely is part of the reason they are under so much stress in the first place.

So please, if your unsure ,  feel free to describe your unique situation and we can continue this discussion

Semper International listed in the Forrester Virtual Worlds report

Recently Forrester made public a research document on Virtual Worlds titled “Getting Real Work Done in Virtual Worlds”.

This timely piece is helping refocus the Virtual Worlds industry and firms looking at Virtual Worlds as a business tool back into scope. Semper International is proud to be listed in this report as a firm taking business advantage of this new medium.

 

We at Semper are proud to be early adopters for our industry and have been of a mind to help define the space and work collaboratively with our industries to foster a healthy understanding of it and assist in creating “Best Practice” guidelines.

 

 

 

Recruiting in SL part II

Recruiting in Second Life Part II: “Ghostown or Goldmine?”

By Lisa Peyton a.k.a. Avarie Parker

 

This concludes the virtual conversation I had with Brian Regan a.k.a. PrinterBrian Dowd. He was the first to bring recruiting into Second Life and is in the process of helping other recruiting firms do the same. I wanted to get some additional insight into these projects and the future of this ever expanding Virtual World (VW). You can read the first part of our interview, “Recruiting in Second Life: “SL is not an easy button”, here:http://blog.generatorgroup.net/generator_weblog/recruiting_in_second_life/index.html

Avarie Parker: Hi Brian!

PrinterBrian Dowd: Good morning.

AP: I was checking out the job boards. Did you have anything to do with their creation?

PBD: Yes, Semper has a job boards division. We have job boards for Printing, Graphics and the Game Industry.

(Computer monitors on Human Resource Island proudly display Semper’s job boards, printworkers.com http://www.printworkers.com/and jobs.gigsingaming.comhttp://jobs.gigsingaming.com/).

AP: So could you please discuss the Tower Consultants (http://www.towerconsultants.com/) project a bit? Perhaps give an overview of the process or steps involved with such a project–the roles and individuals involved?

(Tower Consultants location in Second Life,http://slurl.com/secondlife/HumanResource%20Island/116/81/27) is located on Human Resource Island.)

PBD:  From a “Why they are here stand point”? Or from a “How did Semper build them their Second Life location”?; Would you like a cup of coffee?

Coffee Service (Click for a cup): Gives a cup of hot coffee to Printer Brian Dowd

AP: Sure!

PBD: Click on the pot.

AP: Got it, thanks!

Coffee Service (Click for a cup): Gives a cup of hot coffee to Avarie Parker.

AP: Oh goodness, too much multi-tasking…

PBD: LOL, part of modern business I am afraid.

AP: Yes. So I am curious about the process of building out the Tower SL local.

PBD: An easy way to explain it is that it’s like building a website, but more identifying how the firm wants to be branded, what they want in their location, what is their purpose for being there, and what programming and integration is needed.

AP: Ok, great. So you would work with a programmer, designer, project manager, etc?

PBD: Yes, but I do the PM side–like to make sure things are done right and things get moved along at the pace I expect.

AP: I see. So are you seeing SL skills like building, etc. translate into RL (real life) jobs??

PBD: Yes and No. Yes–if companies need SL things done and one is hired to do the project. No–if you want the skills they have to translate into a relevant skill in RL. Most people gain skills to do SL jobs. So things like Maya and Photoshop need to be learned and understood to do certain things in SL. The SL scripting language is a basic programming language. So the people have to learn it to be scripters, but it is not robust enough to make them a programmer in RL.  Although a lot of RL programmers are scripters here. So they entered SL with the skills already. Make sense?

AP: Yes, definitely. So at this point you aren’t seeing full-time RL jobs that are devoted to scripting in SL? Is it primarily contract work?

PBD: There are some. But you are talking to someone that runs a contract based staffing firm so I like to provide development firms with contractors. I have a bias.

AP:  Do you think that there will be a need for people with these SL skills? Will the trend continue?

PBD: Hmmm, I think there will. It will be a specialty, not a huge market. I suspect at some point soon VWs will be easy to make–like buying canned website software.

AP: So I if I can back up for a minute. Perhaps you could discuss Tower’s goals within SL and have they been successful?

PBD: Not 100% my place to say. I can say that they have gained exposure and I have fielded questions from people at Harvard and a few large firms about the question you just asked. The current phase of their SL project is explorative at this point. It reaches into areas that I cannot speak of. The whole “understanding the people in SL and how to interact” question. You know–the stuff I get paid to consult on.

AP: So they are looking at this as a longer-term project, perhaps even planning out a few years then?

PBD Yes. I will say this; if your firm is interested in SL, consider having me do the project. I understand staffing, and SL makes for the right mix.

AP: So, predictions…we have touched on it a bit but if I were to ask you: Recruiting in SL – Goldmine or Ghost town? What side of the fence would you come down on??

PBD: Heh, neither. But I edge more on the goldmine, although it’s more like a small tip of a large gold vein; sticking out of the ground. Potential, but lots of work needed to dig it out. This is really just starting; VWs will have a big impact on recruitment and not just from the agency side. The large firms in here today already are using it. I have seen new jobs created that focus on VWs as a recruitment platform and not just recruiter level –Director level.

AP: I would love to do that!!!

PBD: So your large clients will be in VWs in some fashion or another.

PBD: It would be nice to work from home and use a VW as your office.

AP: So tell me about your Avatar. Is it custom??

PBD: Yes, of course. Residents don’t interact as much with the default avatars walking around. I guess its like–if you care enough to take the time to make up your avatar, you are less likely to have ulterior motives I guess. You could think of it like all those Myspace friends requests you get from the no detail profile with one picture and no friends. LOL.

AP: So what does “custom” mean exactly? Is it based on how you really look??

PBD: No, just not a basic look. You took time on yours – the clothing is not default stuff and your hair is not default. You have glasses on.

AP: Is it possible to hire someone to create a custom skin?

PBD: People do it but usually only celebs have them done. Going rate is about $150 – $300 US. Buying a skin is the most common.

AP: So do you feel all the shopping and consumerism in SL leads to more buying in the RL? Like the way some people believe violent video games lead to real violence?

PBD: I do not believe that. Bad parenting creates what you said I don’t know about the shopping side but I suspect it does.

AP: So you feel there is a link between someone buying tons of stuff in SL and then deciding to buy something in RL?

PBD: I am not a marketing type person but I think it does. Branding is branding, and it’s about trust.

(Aveda offers real life hairstyles in SL, residents can purchase the hair using SL Currency called Linden Dollars.)

(Another example of in-world branding, there is an unofficial Nike store in Second Life, offering virtual T-shirts and work-out gear.)

AP: If a person gets a high from buying pretty stuff in SL, who’s to say they won’t take that into the RL and try to get that same feeling in their real lives. Do you feel that SL encourages classicism?? Someone might be able to buy a diamond necklace in-world, but could never afford that in RL.  Is that a good thing?

PBD: Don’t really know. I am not a big shopper.

AP: From a psychological perspective, do you think there are deeper issues here?

PBD: Well, your question is rather large.

AP: Yes, I was struck by a woman I met in SL that wanted to buy some land but had to wait until her RL paycheck cleared the bank.  She had a HUGE presence in SL, tavern owner, etc., but couldn’t afford the small RL sum to pay for a small parcel of land. It made me think about the idea of escapism, and are VWs going to be a way for people to escape their lives?

PBD: Yes, but does a VW cause that? No. If you remove VWs, does it go away? No. What I like about Interactive Media over traditional is simple: a person’s mind is engaged and they are part of the story or event. T.V. for example tells us the story and we simply watch and have no control over what’s happening. Interactive media, such as video games and VWs, is much more engaging for the mind. Second Life is very interesting in the sense that you create your own experience in many ways. You can build what you want, buy what you want, hang out with whom you want. Does it all equal escapism? I imagine it does, but most things in moderation seem fine to me. It’s when it’s done to an excess that causes worry.

AP: I agree absolutely. So a final question: every time I talk about SL, I still hear someone say, “Oh, that’s weird” or some similar judgment about the people that are in-world.  How would you respond to those people?

PBD: LOL, We are all educators. Ever read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand?

AP: Of course, I have read everything by her.

PBD: There are people that do, those that don’t, and those that want, but cannot achieve. It is easy to look at something new and pass judgment while having no true understanding of what it is. Or allowing other peoples opinion to be your own, without taking a small amount of time to reflect upon it yourself. So the true question is: who in their right mind would pass judgment on something new while not understanding it? 1993 and the Internet explosion is still recent news.

AP: Brilliant quote to end on. Thank you so much for your time. I wish you the best with all of your virtual ventures.