I don’t normally use this space to directly talk about NPAworldwide, but in the world of recruitment news, we have had a couple of notable events in the past week that are worth sharing.
First, for regular readers of our blog, you’ll have noticed regular contributions from Dave Nerz. Dave has announced his retirement effective June 30, 2024. Our Board of Directors has been engaged in a search process to find his replacement and we are pleased to announce that Kerry Crockett, MBA, CPC, CAE, CMP Fellow, DES has joined NPAworldwide as our new President and COO. Kerry comes to us most recently from the Insurance Accounting and Systems Association where she served as CEO. She is a dynamic professional with a strong background in team building, product development, strategic planning, international event planning, event profitability, membership growth and sponsor recruitment. We are excited for this new chapter in NPAworldwide’s nearly 70-year history. I’m sure you’ll be hearing more from Kerry as she settles into her role.
Secondly, we have released the results of our twice-annual Business Barometer Survey. We ask owners of our network to participate in this survey each year in February and August, to compare business results over the past 180 days compared to a year ago, the past 90 days compared to expectations, and the outlook for the next 180 days among other questions.
While this recruitment news shows that optimism has declined notably from this time last year, the majority of members anticipate business results in the next 180 days that are similar to, or better than, the past 180 days. There are fewer jobs available, and they are difficult to fill. Candidates remain hard to find and are in short supply in certain sectors. Top candidates continue to receive counteroffers and multiple offers, but they don’t hold all the cards as employers are reducing remote work and salaries are beginning to moderate slightly.