Ah, what a difference five years can make — especially when those years transport the economy from bust to boom.
With Human Resources Professionals Week this week, Oct. 5-9, the brain trust at OfficeTeam (division of Robert Half consulting) took a look at key HR issues. They surveyed HR professionals on such matters as training, recruiting and retention, and then compared today's results with those from a 2010 OfficeTeam survey. Here's what they found:
The concern among human resources personnel that has risen in stature today compared to 2010 is recruiting. Whereas 23 percent listed recruiting as their top concern five years ago, this time, 36 percent said it was their biggest headache.
Recommended For You
Training and development concerns have dropped during the same time, but still remain the most often cited: 38 percent said it was their biggest concern. However, in 2010, 45 percent identified T&D as No. 1, so apparently either progress is being made or dollars and worries are shifting to recruiting.
In third place — but still significant — was retention of top performers. This concern is essentially unchanged (26 percent today, 27 percent in 2010) and suggests not much has been done to stem the loss of outstanding personnel.
The survey also asked the 2015 respondents to name their most challenging work activity. Here's the breakdown:
-
Finding good candidates to fill open positions: 36 percent
-
Handling firings and layoffs: 26 percent
-
Managing the benefits program: 23 percent
-
Compensation equity: 14 percent
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
