Human Resources: Exclusive Study, Sponsored By Bullhorn, Reveals Latest Trends In Staffing

Boston—December 10, 2007 — Bullhorn, the global leader in On Demand, front office staffing and recruiting software, today released their latest research report “Non-traditional Compensation, Bonuses, and Equity Compensation.” The report focuses on recruiter compensation, increases in variable compensation, and for the first time in a report of this kind, specific non-traditional compensation perks and benefits and details on how 26 percent of firms use them. Key findings revealed in the report include: industry salaries are increasing; bonus expectations for 2007 are more optimistic than 2006; stock options and company equity are being used more often as variable compensation; process metrics such as placement ratios and time-to-fill are not critical factors in bonus calculations; and the most popular lead metrics tied to bonuses are company performance and individual revenue contribution.

Bullhorn invited approximately 45,000 staffing and recruiting professionals to participate in a Q3, 2007 survey, of which 346 full-time staffing and recruiting professionals’ responses were considered to drive the results and conclusions of this report. Overall, 33 percent were primarily in a business development role, while 30 percent were executive management, and 23 percent were in a recruiting role. Thirty percent of respondents are focus on contingency staffing, 20 percent in temporary to permanent staffing, 15 percent in contract staffing, and the rest of respondents are in retained executive search (11 percent), temporary staffing (9 percent) or other (15 percent) focus.

Other compensation trends identified include:

The largest faction of respondents report their annual salaries for 2007, without bonuses, are less than $75,000 (34 percent). Just less than a quarter expect salaries between $100,000 and $149,000 (24 percent), and 22 percent expect to receive between $75,000 and $99,000.

More than half of staffing and recruiting professionals receive an annual bonus (56.5 percent). Of those, 30 percent expect annual bonuses of less than $10,000, a third expect bonuses between $10,000 and $29,000, and just 10 percent expect more than $100,000.

Just more than a quarter of respondents are offered a stock option or another equity component (26 percent). When it comes to equity components in those that use them, 71 percent of respondents say equity is based on performance, compared to just 48 percent for stock options.

Performance is the primary driver of rewards and compensation. However, neither placement nor time-to-fill is cited frequently as a determining factor for variable compensation.
Equity and stock options play a role in more than one-fourth of staffing and recruiting firms’ overall mix of compensation, but are not present in the majority of compensation structures.

The full report, “Non-traditional Compensation, Bonuses, & Equity Compensation” is available for free download here. A brief registration to the Bullhorn Community is required. Community members have access to many other Bullhorn research reports from a variety of sources that focus on news, education and industry trends related to the staffing and recruiting industry.

Bullhorn is the staffing and recruiting industry’s only On Demand, integrated front office solution. Comprising email, calendaring, sourcing, an applicant tracking solution, customer relationship management and job management, Bullhorn enables users to communicate and collaborate with contacts, candidates, colleagues and clients in real-time to generate, source and fill job orders, or make placements, at anytime and from anyplace. Bullhorn’s users include staffing and recruiting firms of all sizes, from a wide range of industries – including information technology, professional services, office/clerical and healthcare. The Bullhorn Blogger is the company’s online community where customers, partners, Bullhorn professionals and prospective customers share ideas and best practices to advance the productivity of the staffing and recruiting industry through the innovative use of Bullhorn’s On Demand, integrated front office staffing and recruiting software.

About Bullhorn, Inc.

Bullhorn is the global leader in On Demand, front office staffing and recruiting software, providing the only completely integrated front office solution for staffing and recruiting firms. Bullhorn enables its customers to synchronize sales and recruiting to generate, source and fill job orders in real-time, at anytime and from anyplace, at the highest rates in the industry. Delivered through software as a service, Bullhorn continually meets the evolving business needs of its customers. More than 1,000 firms and 11,000 users worldwide, including some of the largest global staffing firms, partner with Bullhorn to meet the employment demands of the global economy. For more information, visit www.bullhorn.com or call +1(888)GoLive8.