Change is constant, and HR's ability to meet new challenges has always been essential to their companies' success. The better HR anticipates how evolving situations affect them, the better they can support their business units with well-developed strategies. HR may want to consider the following issues as they create future hiring programs:

Processing Demands on HR

This year many companies saw their hiring needs shrink because of the recession. At the same time, rounds of layoffs provided a larger pool of candidates for the few positions that were open. Ron Webb, PhD, manager, doctoral recruiting and university relations at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio explains that this situation doesn't necessarily cut his workload. "The hiring process itself isn't any easier—I still have to maintain a process to deliver the candidates my hiring managers ask for." At the same time, he says, he has to "have the system poised in case we have to go faster."

Downsizing and a poor economy contribute to the growing influx of candidates, while technology has made it easier for applicants to find out about open positions and send in resumes. The resulting deluge of material is just one facet of the overload HR faces.

As Webb explains, "Though I have better odds in terms of finding the right person, I have more people to evaluate. If I hire 60 people this year, I'll look at 6,000 resumes." Procter & Gamble has kept pace by turning to a paperless system, three years ago.

Many other HR departments are looking for ways to stay nimble.

Sam Mirabito, manager of staffing at Groton Laboratories, Pfizer Global Research and Development Division in Groton, Conn. says the company definitely looks to technology solutions to help them speed up and enhance HR's productivity. "We're no longer paper driven," says Mirabito. "We have a resume database that allows us to do queries and screen potential candidates.

"We're always looking for better screening software—we want to pull up just the core resumes instead of hundreds," Mirabito explains. "That greater efficiency frees us up to do the hands–on work, like telephone interviewing."

Celanese, a global chemical company based in Kronberg, Germany, has completely restructured its HR function over the past year, says Paula Caya, head of the Organizational Effectiveness Center of Excellence at Celanese's Dallas office. "We have HR Business Partners who serve client groups on the operational side, and HR Shared Services, which provides resources to the HR Business Partners." The restructuring has centralized recruiting and staffing in the U.S., and makes for a more consistent process. Additionally, "we present a clear face and value system to candidates," says Caya.

The country's post-September 11th environment makes it imperative for HR to consider time-consuming background checks for even low-level positions. Lean business models also create pressure for HR to find the right person the first time. Though this strategy saves time and money over the long run, it's an intensive effort upfront.

To keep job opening-to-fill ratios from rising, HR will need to develop processes and organizational structures that get applicants assessed, interviewed and investigated quickly.

Aging Population

This can mean two things for companies. Certain industries, like pharmaceuticals, will have to scramble to find enough employees to meet demand. Webb notes that the one exception to the decline in hiring he's seen has been in the pharmaceutical sector.

For HR, the second implication of an aging population is a shrinking labor pool, caused by the march of baby-boomers toward retirement.

The Department of Labor (DOL) projects that by 2008, the oldest baby-boomers will be aged 52 - 62. Though these figures cross all occupations, a similar picture exists within most sectors. According to the National Science Foundation's Science and Engineering Indicators 2002, the number of retirements among science and engineering-degreed workers will increase dramatically over the next twenty years.

By 2010, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects total civilian employment to be 167.8 million, but the total civilian labor force to be only 158 million—with the result that many jobs will go begging. This situation won't be due entirely to the aging population; declining birth rates will also be a factor. However, HR will need to attract younger candidates to fill a surplus of positions not many years from now.

The increased job growth and declining labor pool will present challenges for recruiting staff. "Companies can't be passive," says Holly Butler, senior recruiter for research at Genentech, Inc. in South San Francisco, Calif. "We're becoming proactive in reaching out, especially to niche organizations like MAES (Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists) and AISES (American Indian Science & Engineering Society). Genentech has a strong commitment to diversity."

Students are obviously a good source for new employees, and Butler says that recruiters and HR departments should reach into their scientific staffs to network. "Our scientists and chemists are going to universities themselves, to meet with professors and students," says Butler. "They share what it's like to work in industry, and educate students in a way that the academic side can't."

Mirabito says that Pfizer still looks for the same things from students: a high GPA, a good progression in their chemistry courses, and independent research experience. What has changed is Pfizer's focus on internships, which have grown from just under 90 a couple of years ago to 165 today.

"We use our internship as a recruiting tool, and it has become an important way to judge talent," says Mirabito. "We can evaluate the students' skills and how they work. It goes so much deeper than reviewing paperwork and interviewing." He adds that Pfizer likes to see a potential full-time employee working within the company's environment, but "it's also a way for the student to look at the company and form an opinion about working here."

Alternative Staffing

In May 2002, nearly three million people worked at temporary jobs, according to the BLS. This figure represents about 2.5 percent of the employed workforce-not a huge share, but more than double the percentage ten years ago. All indicators point toward an increasing shift in this direction as businesses take advantage of the flexibility temp arrangements offer.

"Businesses like temps as a way of trying out workers," says Jeanette Figueroa, senior staffing consultant with Lab Support in Princeton, New Jersey, which specializes in assignments specific to scientific professionals. "They use them for short term projects, and when their budget for permanent workers won't allow them to hire another employee."

On the flip side, Figueroa says that temp workers have reasons for wanting this arrangement. "Some want to try different industries, or get their foot in the door with a company," she says. "Others enjoy the flexibility-perhaps they're moving soon and still need work."

Temp agencies typically pre-screen and match their workers with appropriate jobs, which can be time savers for HR staff who need to fill positions in a hurry. However, this new kind of worker may confuse company employees, who need to know how to interact with temps. HR will need to create clear policies in order to protect the company from any legal exposure that could occur if temps are treated as ordinary employees.

Candidate Skills

Solid academic backgrounds and technical skills will always be required, but companies are looking beyond academics. "We need a global mindset," says Caya. "We have initiated expatriate assignments in which we bring in people to the U.S. or send them from the U.S. to other countries, to fill that need for cultural integration."

Caya says her company has started focusing on "soft skills", too. "We need employees with good communications skills, as well as employees who are open to change and understand change management."

Along with solid academic skills, Pfizer also looks for three particular "soft skills" which Mirabito says can be deal killers if they're not present.

"We look for communications-the ability to explain what you've done. We may ask students to give a seminar and explain their research during the on site interview day."

Teamwork is also important, since Pfizer works in "a matrixed environment". Employees need to work and get along with a team from several disciplines and departments," says Mirabito. "And we also need what sounds like the opposite trait-independent thinking. We don't want the "me-too" kind of worker; we need an initiator with scientific inquisitiveness."

Challenges Remain

Different sectors of the chemical industry have differing needs, both now and in the future. However, recruiters and hiring managers can expect jobs to grow as fast as average (10 - 20 percent) in all occupations through 2010, with greater opportunities in pharmaceutical and biotech firms, according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook (BLS).

Surveys by the American Chemical Society (Women Chemists 2000 and ChemCensus 2000) discuss the growing number of females entering chemical careers. Though men have more doctorate degrees than women, women in 2000 reported having more bachelors and master's degrees combined than did men. Data outside ACS also indicates growing numbers of female scientists: NSF figures show that the number of bachelor's degrees in science awarded to women has grown from 34 percent in 1975 to 49 percent by 1998.

An increasingly diverse, global workforce and market will require new skills from candidates, as an aging population requires more products and offers fewer workers. HR's challenge will be to reach deeply into the available candidate pool, using every tool at their disposal.

Carla Joinson is a Stafford, Va.-based writer specializing in human resources and management topics.