Archive for the ‘Industry News’ Category

CareerBuilder’s New Talent Crunch Study Explores the Impact of the Skills Gap and Vacancies on Revenue and Turnover

Posted: April 2, 2014 in Industry News, Recruiting and Sourcing, Talent Acquisition
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sky_writing_recruiting

Recruiting skywriting advertising over San Francisco’s high tech SOMA district in 2013

Reposted from:CareerBuilder’s New Talent Crunch Study Explores the Impact of Skills Gap and Vacancies on Revenue and Turnover

Chicago, June 27, 2012 – As companies navigate around the widening skills gap in the U.S., prolonged job vacancies are taking a toll on employee morale and the bottom line. Despite high unemployment rates, 38 percent of employers reported they currently have positions for which they can’t find qualified candidates. One-third (34 percent) reported that job vacancies have resulted in a lower quality of work due to employees being overworked, and 23 percent cited a loss in revenue.

With unfilled positions often translating into longer hours for existing staff, 33 percent of employers said vacancies have caused lower morale and 17 percent pointed to higher turnover within their organizations.

CareerBuilder’s “Talent Crunch” study explores the challenges associated with the skills deficit and what employers are doing to address it. The study was produced in conjunction with CareerBuilder’s “Empowering Employment” initiative, a partnership effort that showcases the programs and learnings of companies who are committed to retraining workers and fueling job creation. (more…)

Why It’s So Hard to Get Funded Right Now

Posted: April 25, 2012 in Capital, Industry News
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Post credited to Jeffrey Bussgang, at Inc.com

When it comes to funding young companies, the investment community is constantly raising the bar. Here’s why.

About 10 years ago, I entered the venture capital business after being an entrepreneur. My new partners warned me that my “bar” for new investments would get higher over time.  In other words, the criteria to make a new investment or clearing “the bar” would get stricter with time as I developed more experience.

They were right. The notion that investors get wiser and more selective over time has become common wisdom in the industry. But there’s something very new going on in the last few years, something very striking.  Simply put, when it comes to funding young companies, the investment community’s collective bar has recently gotten higher– much higher.

The entrepreneurs I speak to are feeling it every day. When they pitch their new idea to investors, they are told to build a prototype first. When they build the prototype, they are told to go get customers. When they get customers, they are told to show engagement metrics. When they show engagement metrics, they are told to run some monetization experiments. When they run monetization experiments, they are told to prove scalability.

Why is the new investment bar so high today? Isn’t there plenty of euphoria to go around with the IPO market returning, marquee acquisitions (e.g., Instagram for $1 billion) and the impending, earth-shattering Facebook IPO? I believe this new phenomenon of an extraordinarily high bar is an outgrowth of three related forces: (more…)

A Little Secret The “Monsters” Don’t Want You To Know

Posted: April 22, 2012 in Industry News, Talent Acquisition
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Monsters

by StarCrewZ

In 1994 Monster.com started operations in Maynard Massachusetts, beginning a revolution in online access to jobs all over the world. Their website currently lists over 800,000 jobs in the US by their own count. With over 12% reach into the online job shoppers market, they have captured twice the market share of their closest competitor CareerBuilder.com and YahooJobs.com. With point-and-shoot access for resume submission to most available jobs, you would think the chance for landing your dream job couldn’t be better.

However, many jobs seekers are being “virtually” trampled by a mad rush on the choice positions.

The Monsters of online job search have created tremendous opportunity for career advancement. At the same time, they have created a growing problem not only for those seeking employment, but also for the companies who use job search engines to drive candidates to their door. They have created a monster of a different kind and it’s getting bigger and uglier.

We talk to candidates and Human Resource departments every day in our business. Candidates complain that they send out lots of resumes, but get fewer calls back and when they do get called for an interview, they feel they are being treated more and more like a commodity. They describe it being like a cattle-call, with frustration and disappointment becoming the norm. (more…)

Orbital News! Jobs Coming Back In Games Industry

Posted: March 22, 2012 in Industry News
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Video Game Industry Leads Entertainment Job Creation in Texas

Incentive Program Grows Video Game Industry and State Investment

JANUARY 3, 2011 – WASHINGTON, DC – The computer and video game industry created more full time jobs in the past two years than any other moving image entertainment sector, according to a new report from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. An Analysis of Texas Economic Development Initiatives highlights state investment from the film, television, commercial, and video game industries and how each benefited from the “Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program.”

“The Texas incentive program is a great example of how investing in the computer and video game industry attracts 21st century jobs and boosts a state’s economy,” said Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO of the Entertainment Software Association, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers. “We commend Governor Perry and the Texas legislature for their vision in creating a program to cultivate these high-tech jobs.”

The comptroller’s report found that the state’s incentive program, first enacted in 2007 and expanded in 2009, contributed significantly to the computer and video game industry’s growth in Texas by creating an estimated 1,700 jobs between April 2009 and August 2010. The incentive program provides grants for qualifying productions including movies, television shows, commercials and computer and video games in an effort to create jobs for Texas residents.

“Texas was one of the first states with an incentive for the video game industry, and it has proven successful,” said Texas Comptroller Susan Combs. “In 2009, the video game industry spent $234 million in Texas and employed 3,400 permanent workers with a positive economic impact on the state and on their local communities.”

(more…)

Secrets of one of America’s Most Promising Companies

Posted: March 20, 2012 in Industry News, Interviews
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As told to Forbes by Gregory Short and Geoffrey Zatkin, co-founders of EEDAR.

What is the hardest challenge your company has faced to date? Have you overcome it? If so, specifically how?

At EEDAR, our hardest challenge was tied directly to our greatest strength. As a result of our massive proprietary videogame database, EEDAR is able to provide the videogame industry with both a completely new way to evaluate the potential profitability of game titles and a set of highly advanced data analysis tools.

The challenge was teaching an entire industry about more accurate, efficient and comprehensive tools available for making critical business decisions than what was used for the past 20 years: experience and gut instinct-based decision making.

EEDAR continues to work on overcoming this enormous challenge of educating clients on the benefits of data-driven decision making through building strong client relationships, frequent training sessions, strategic use of the press and, most importantly, ensuring our products and services deliver the results our clients require.

Which company/entrepreneur do you model your business after and why?

As a start-up company, EEDAR closely followed many of the principles espoused by Guy Kawasaki in his book The Art of the Start. EEDAR was already on the right track to an extent, but three key lessons from Mr. Kawasaki’s work helped us focus our efforts more productively.

Firstly, EEDAR strove to be a company of meaning; We wanted EEDAR to be a company that would be a positive change for the entire videogame industry, not just another research firm.

(more…)