Briefing
How Do Employers Recruit New Workers?
Davis, Steven J.; Macaluso, Claudia; Waddell, Sonya Ravindranath (2021-09)
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Volume 21 , Issue 28

Briefing
How Domestic Outsourcing Affects the Labor Market
Macaluso, Claudia (2023-11)
In this article, I focus on a few ways domestic outsourcing affects our understanding of the labor market. Jobs filled and emptied by temporary workers are never included in the official tally of job creation and job destruction, which leads to significantly underestimating the magnitude of labor market flows. Domestic outsourcing also changes the interpretation of firm reactions to productivity changes, as well as the magnitude and meaning of a secular decline in measures of labor market dynamism such as the job reallocation rate. Outsourcing is important for plants in modifying their ...
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Volume 23 , Issue 36

Briefing
Changing Recruiting Practices and Methods in the Tight Labor Market
Macaluso, Claudia; Waddell, Sonya Ravindranath (2022-09)
The unusually tight labor market has generated a wide range of challenges for employers attempting to hire workers. A survey conducted jointly by the Richmond Fed and the Richmond Society for Human Resources Management in June 2022 continues our series on recruiting methods and practices. There is little doubt that recruiting effort for each open position has intensified in the last year, and firms have had to engage new and different techniques to attract candidates and fill open positions.
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Volume 22 , Issue 36

Briefing
Are Firms Using Remote Work to Recruit and Retain Workers?
Davis, Steven J.; Macaluso, Claudia; Waddell, Sonya Ravindranath (2022-02)
A Richmond Fed survey of employers in the Fifth District reveals that many firms — especially larger ones — are offering hybrid and remote work options to recruit and retain employees. Those same firms have expanded the geographic reach of their recruiting efforts. Expectations about the future direction of remote work differ a lot across sectors and employers.
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Volume 22 , Issue 07

Briefing
A Look at the Impact of the Work-From-Home Revolution
Macaluso, Claudia (2023-08)
In this article, I survey the state of remote work in the American economy and investigate the implications for workers, businesses and local economies. Comprehensive real-time survey data agree: Work from home is here to stay. The ability to offer remote or hybrid arrangements has become an important tool for employers to attract and retain talent, as workers value the flexibility that working from home affords them. Meanwhile, what has been a positive development to many workers poses significant challenges for urban cores that no longer benefit from the daily influx of commuters and their ...
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Volume 23 , Issue 28

Briefing
The Shortcomings of a Work-Biased Welfare System
Macaluso, Claudia (2021-05)
The recently passed American Rescue Plan Act has once again brought attention to the U.S. welfare system. This EB provides an overview of the welfare system — including recent changes — and assesses the system's effectiveness in achieving its goals. The brief highlights a "work bias" that is embedded in many U.S. welfare programs and has both intended and unintended effects on the system's ability to combat poverty.
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Volume 21 , Issue 15

Briefing
High Labor Market Churn During the 2020 Recession
Macaluso, Claudia (2021-02)
Richmond Fed research has found that job losses during the COVID-19 recession have been concentrated in high-turnover sectors, with turnover rates in those occupations even higher than they were during the Great Recession. Workers displaced from high-turnover occupations often avoid long periods of unemployment, but they are historically less likely to develop long-term employment relationships, which limits their potential for sustained wage growth.
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Volume 21 , Issue 06