john_nurthen

John Nurthen

About John Nurthen

John Nurthen is executive director of global research. He can be reached at jnurthen (at) staffingindustry (dot) com.

More Articles by John Nurthen

2901, 2024

Two thorny issues ahead for staffing

By |January 29th, 2024|

From the economy to geopolitical uncertainty, the industry can expect this year to be as challenging as the last.

2509, 2023

The ESG Wake-Up Call

By |September 25th, 2023|

We have reached a point where business leaders need to decide whether to take action or stand on the sidelines — regardless of their company’s size. Which will you do?

1609, 2023

An Intriguing Collaboration

By |September 16th, 2023|

When media speculation about workforce automation picked up about five years ago, SIA predicted that the staffing firm of the future would offer human options for getting work done alongside AI and robotic alternatives. Therefore, it is gratifying that Kelly Services has made the prediction come true.

The ability to provide digital workers through the platform […]

1710, 2022

After the Interview

By |October 17th, 2022|

Psychometric assessments are a well-established method of gauging how well job seekers will suit a job vacancy and fit into your team, and they are often used post hiring to understand how well teams work together.

Allegedly based on psychological research, psychometric assessment vendors claim to provide an objective, data-driven and scientific way of measuring soft […]

1510, 2021

SIA Musings: A Ghost in My House

By |October 15th, 2021|

The reputation of any staffing firm can be severely undermined when they fail to respond to those candidates who were unsuccessful in their application and surplus to requirements. And it is a practice that is still, sadly, far too common. For some, therefore, it might seem that the growing trend in candidate ghosting is simply […]

1602, 2021

Research Report: A New Wave

By |February 16th, 2021|

Direct sourcing is not a new market trend. There have always been employers with the confidence and brand profile to go it alone and leverage their own internal candidate pools of former employees, retirees and applicants via their own applicant tracking systems.

The demand for direct sourcing has been quite cyclical in nature — someone in […]

911, 2020

SIA Musings: Economic Hysteresis

By |November 9th, 2020|

Derived from the Ancient Greek word ὑστέρησις meaning “deficiency” or “lagging behind,” hysteresis is the dependence of the state of a system on its history and can be applied in slightly different ways to the fields of physics, chemistry, engineering, biology and economics.

Used extensively in the area of labour economics, it is a great word […]

911, 2020

Conference Overview: Turning Up the Upturn

By |November 9th, 2020|

No staffing executive heading for a relaxing holiday break at the end of 2019 could have foreseen the tumultuous events that would unfold in 2020. The year has placed extraordinary demands on every staffing business and completely reshaped the economic and social landscape.

As I write this article, six months after the World Health Organisation declared […]

1905, 2020

The Case for Blue Collar

By |May 19th, 2020|

Given the success of LinkedIn, it’s surprising that no one came up with a business model like Jobcase sooner. It’s one of those concepts that makes you kick yourself for not thinking of it yourself.

LinkedIn defines itself as “the world’s largest professional network” and has been remarkably successful in attracting more than 660 million users […]

2303, 2020

Research Report: The Heart of Business

By |March 23rd, 2020|

All aspects of the staffing process are supported and influenced by technology, and recent developments such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and blockchain are presenting staffing firms with an increasingly complex environment to understand. Not only is technology transforming existing products, it is creating a bewildering array of new products to consider.