CLEVELAND, OH, July 2, 2008 -- Recession is ripping through the nation and economic hardship is impacting almost everything Americans do from buying houses to driving cars, or even being able to hold a job. Ethan Harris, chief domestic economist for Lehman Brothers, expects the current unemployment rate to continue to rise well through the end of 2009. Goldman Sachs shares a similar sentiment, predicting that rising unemployment rates are only currently about half of what they will increase to by the end of 2009.
In fact, many predict that this economic downswing will be the worst in decades. David Rosenberg, a famous economist at Merrill Lynch, predicts that the current recession will be the worst in the United States since the 1970's and predicts that the economy will only continue to decline in the coming months . John R. Graham, finance professor at Duke's Fuqua School of Business, also predicts a similar recession is in the works, "This could be the longest slowdown since the double-dip recession of 1979-81."
However, the fluid handling industry is booming, and companies are experiencing an escalating need for qualified personnel. Even with growing fears of a domestic recession, it appears that the levels of expertise and sophistication required by the fluid handling industry provide immunity to the current economic downturn.
GRS Fluid Handling, the dominant industry-specific recruiting firm based in Cleveland, Ohio, has first-hand experience with this phenomenon. This year, GRS has discussed hiring needs with an extraordinary number of companies in need despite fears and realizations of a domestic recession. GRS tracks each of these discussed hiring needs as Job Orders. In the first two quarters of the current year, GRS has already taken approximately the same number of job orders that they had received in each of the entire five previous years.
Joe Bertolami, Team Leader of the GRS Fluid Handling team, attributes the increasing demand for qualified personnel, even during the current economic downswing, to GRS' ability to track markets throughout the United States, "While there are certainly areas of the country struggling, several regions are experiencing a dire need for exceptional people that will contribute to further successes and expansion of companies." Bertolami, who has been involved in the fluid handling industry since 1999, also feels that the recession has not carried over to the fluid handling market: "The market is currently more active than at any other point during my career in the fluid handling industry. This most definitely contributes to the industry's resilience and ability to withstand and thrive during periods of economic depression both now and into the future."
Even amidst these scholarly predictions and realizations of continued economic recession, the fluid handling industry should continue to prosper and expand due to the stability and growing need for highly qualified personnel.
GRS is a niche recruiting firm that specializes in helping companies attract the top talent for sales and engineering positions within the fluid handling industry.
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