1. SHRM Survey Findings: 2014 Economic Conditions—California
Global Competition and Hiring Strategies
October 30, 2014

2. • This is Part 3 of the California results from a series of SHRM survey results about the state of jobs
and skills in the current economic condition, which relates to a SHRM survey series about the
ongoing impact of the U.S. and global recession from 2007 to 2012. California and U.S. results are
compared, and statistically significant differences are indicated in separate slides in the report.
• California results will be reported separately in three different topic areas:
» Overall financial health and hiring.
» Recruiting and skills gaps.
» Global competition and hiring strategies.
• Overall results (including industry-specific information) for 2013 can be found on our website at
http://www.shrm.org/research/surveyfindings/articles/pages/shrmpolltheongoingimpactoftherecessio
n.aspx
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 2
Introduction

3. • What strategies have California organizations been using to deal with recruiting challenges
for full-time regular positions? A little more than one-half (51%) of organizations in California
indicated using social media to deal with such challenges, followed by the use of a recruitment
agency (44%) and collaborating with educational institutions (40%). Organizations have also
applied strategies that focus on using current employees, including training existing employees to
take on the hard-to-fill positions (37%) and expanding training programs to help improve skills of
new hires (35%).
» Organizations in California were less likely to report collaborating with educational institutions
(40%) and seeking talent from nontraditional sources (24%) to deal with recruiting challenges,
compared with 49% and 33% in the rest of the U.S.
• What recruiting strategies do California organizations cite as most effective? The most
effective strategies for dealing with recruiting challenges in California included using a recruitment
agency (54%), using social media (52%), expanding advertising efforts (51%) and targeting passive
jobseekers (51%).
» Compared with the rest of the U.S., organizations in California were more likely to cite
targeting passive job seekers as an effective strategy for dealing with recruiting challenges
(42% for the U.S. and 51% for California).
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 3
Key Findings

4. Key Findings (continued)
• Have California organizations been hiring workers from outside the U.S. for jobs that have
been difficult to fill? Nearly one-quarter (23%) of California organizations have sponsored foreign
nationals for H-1B visas in an attempt to fill key full-time regular positions that have been difficult to
fill with qualified U.S. employees. For O visas, TN visas and other visas, the percentages were 4%,
11% and 9%, respectively.
• Have California organizations been hiring U.S. veterans for jobs that have been difficult to
fill? One-half (50%) of organizations in California reported hiring U.S. veterans for full-time regular
positions in the last 12 months, compared with almost two-thirds (64%) in the rest of the U.S.
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 4

5. What Do These Findings Mean for the HR Profession?
• In their desire to find workers with skills that match their organization’s job openings, HR
professionals should consider partnerships or some form of outreach with local educational
institutions. Private-sector collaboration with vocational schools, which can involve developing
curricula that help build skills required by local employers, has become a popular approach in some
U.S. cities. Two out of five organizations in California, and nearly 50% of overall U.S. organizations,
said they have collaborated with educational institutions to deal with recruiting challenges.
• Recent research by SHRM has shown that many employers have cut back on funding for some
forms of professional and career development, such as tuition assistance and cross-training for
employees. This runs counterintuitive to efforts to find properly skilled individuals for open positions,
and may be due only to economic conditions that have caused some employers to tighten their
budgets. Nonetheless, professional development assistance should be an important tool for HR
professionals to strengthen the skills of their employees. Nearly half of California organizations
(48%) and overall U.S. organizations (49%) said training existing employees for hard-to-fill positions
was effective when dealing with recruiting challenges.
• Across all industries in the U.S., high-tech appears to have the greatest demand for highly skilled
workers. The sector has been a strong performer in the U.S. economy, but HR professionals in that
industry should make concerted efforts to train employees and develop partnerships to recruit and
retain high-skilled workers. The high-tech industry in California (23%) and in the U.S. (20%) is the
most likely to recruit globally for hard-to-fill positions. Its HR professionals, more frequently than all
other sectors, also identify global competition for talent as a recruiting challenge for their
organization.
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 5

6. Strategies Organizations Used to Deal with Recruiting
Challenges for Full-Time Regular Positions
California (n = 514) United States (n = 2,900)
Using social media 51% 54%
Using a recruitment agency 44% 39%
Collaborating with educational
40% 48%
institutions
Expanding advertising efforts 39% 41%
Training existing employees to take
37% 39%
on the hard-to-fill positions
Note: Respondents who answered "don't know" were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 6
Expanding training programs to help
improve skills of new hires
35% 37%
Targeting passive job seekers 33% 33%
Expanding geographic search region 25% 30%
Seeking talent from nontraditional
24% 32%
sources (e.g., veterans, retirees)

7. Strategies Organizations Used to Deal with Recruiting
Challenges for Full-Time Regular Positions (continued)
California (n = 514) United States (n = 2,900)
Increasing retention efforts 32% 37%
Improving compensation 28% 24%
Using/enhancing employee referral
25% 26%
program
Note: Respondents who answered "don't know" were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 7
Providing monetary incentives to
candidates (e.g., signing bonus)
20% 19%
Offering more flexible work
arrangements
20% 23%
Improving benefits package 13% 14%
Offering new job perks 6% 7%
Other 3% 3%
None; we are not using any of the
10% 7%
above recruiting strategies

8. Strategies Organizations Used to Deal with Recruiting
Challenges for Full-Time Regular Positions (continued)
Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown. California responses were excluded from the United States group for this analysis.
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 8
United States—California Comparison
• Organizations in California were less likely to collaborate with educational institutions to deal with recruiting
challenges for full-time regular positions compared with the rest of the U.S.
• Organizations in California were less likely to seek talent from nontraditional sources (e.g., veterans, retirees) to deal
with recruiting challenges for full-time regular positions compared with the rest of the U.S.
Collaborating with Educational Institutions
California (40%) < United States (49%)
Seeking Talent from Nontraditional Sources
California (24%) < United States (33%)

9. Recruiting Strategies Organizations Feel Are Most Effective
California (n = 20-261) United States (n = 102-1,571)
Using a recruitment agency 54% 51%
Using social media 52% 51%
Expanding advertising efforts 51% 51%
Targeting passive job seekers 51% 42%
Training existing employees to take
48% 49%
on the hard-to-fill positions
Note: Respondents who answered “don't know” were excluded from this analysis. Respondents were asked only about those recruiting strategies that
their organizations were using and were allowed to select up to three options. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 9
Collaborating with educational
institutions
36% 37%
Expanding geographic search region 35% 33%
Expanding training programs to help
31% 37%
improve skills of new hires
Seeking talent from nontraditional
sources (e.g., veterans, retirees)
27% 27%

10. Recruiting Strategies Organizations Feel Are Most Effective
(continued)
California (n = 20-261) United States (n = 102-1,571)
Note: Respondents who answered “don't know” were excluded from this analysis. Respondents were asked only about those recruiting strategies that
their organizations were using and were allowed to select up to three options. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 10
Offering more flexible work
arrangements
43% 40%
Improving compensation package 41% 41%
Using/enhancing employee referral
40% 42%
program
Increasing retention efforts 35% 33%
Providing monetary incentives to
34% 31%
candidates (e.g., signing bonus)
Improving benefits package 20% 29%
Offering new job perks 10% 12%
Other 40% 31%

11. Recruiting Strategies Organizations Feel Are Most Effective
Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown. California responses were excluded from the United States group for this analysis.
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 11
United States—California Comparison
• Organizations in California were more likely to target passive job seekers as one of the three most effective
recruiting strategies compared with the rest of the U.S.
Targeting Passive Job Seekers
California (51%) > United States (41%)

12. Sponsorship for Foreign Nationals for Key Full-Time Positions
That Are Difficult to Fill with Qualified U.S. Employees
Note: Respondents who answered "don't know" were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding.
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 12
Have Recruited/Hired
and Plan to Continue
Have Recruited/Hired
but Do NOT Plan to
Continue
Have Not
Recruited/Hired but
Plan to in the Next 12
Months
Have Not
Recruited/Hired and
Do NOT Plan to in the
Next 12 Months
CA
(n = 474)
U.S.
(n =
2,560)
CA
(n = 413)
U.S.
(n =
2,261)
CA
(n = 424)
U.S.
(n =
2,301)
CA
(n = 387)
U.S.
(n =
2,131)
H-1B visas
(specialty
occupation
workers)
23% 20% 8% 7% 2% 2% 68% 71%
O visas (individuals
with extraordinary
ability or
achievement)
4% 2% 1% 1% 2% 3% 93% 94%
TN visas (Treaty
NAFTA visas for
Mexican and
Canadian
businesspeople)
11% 8% 3% 2% 2% 3% 84% 88%
Other visas 9% 7% 3% 2% 1% 2% 87% 89%

13. Hired U.S. Veterans for Full-Time Regular Positions in the Last
12 Months
50%
35%
11%
9%
4%
64%
24%
4%
Note: Respondents who answered "don't know" were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding.
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 13
Yes
No
No, but we are considering it
No, but we have plans to do so in the
next 12 months
California (n = 428)
United States (n = 2,561)

14. Hired U.S. Veterans for Full-Time Regular Positions in the Last
12 Months
Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown. California responses were excluded from the United States group for this analysis.
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 14
United States—California Comparison
• Organizations in California were less likely to have hired U.S. veterans for full-time positions in the last 12 months
compared with the rest of the U.S.
Hired U.S. Veterans
California (50%) > United States (65%)

15. Demographics (California)
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 15

16. Demographics (CA): Organization Industry
Professional, scientific, and technical services 16%
Accommodation and food services, retail/wholesale trade 11%
Health care and social assistance 11%
Manufacturing 11%
High-tech 10%
Other industry 9%
Government agencies 9%
Finance, insurance, real estate and rental and leasing 8%
Educational services 7%
Construction, mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction 6%
Note: n = 572. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.
Percentage
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 16

17. Demographics (CA): Organization Sector
Privately owned for-profit
Publicly owned for-profit
Nonprofit/not-for-profit organization
Government
Note: n = 572. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.
49%
22%
17%
11%
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 17

18. Demographics (CA): Organization Staff Size
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 18
n = 504
28%
30%
20%
15%
7%
1 to 99 employees
100 to 499 employees
500 to 2,499 employees
2,500 to 24,999 employees
25,000 or more employees

19. n = 535
Demographics (CA): Other
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 19
U.S.-based operations only 67%
Multinational operations 33%
Single-unit organization: An organization
in which the location and the organization
are one and the same.
30%
Multi-unit organization: An organization
that has more than one location.
70%
Multi-unit headquarters determines HR
policies and practices
48%
Each work location determines HR policies
and practices
3%
A combination of both the work location and
the multi-unit headquarters determines HR
policies and practices
49%
Is your organization a single-unit organization or a
multi-unit organization?
For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices
determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work
location or by both?
Does your organization have U.S.-based
operations (business units) only, or does it
operate multinationally?
n = 542
n = 398

20. 20
SHRM Survey Findings
Survey Methodology
• 3,655 HR professionals participated in this survey from a randomly selected sample of
SHRM’s membership from the entire United States and an additional random sample from
California
• U.S. respondents (including CA) = 3,335, response rate = 13%, margin of error = +/-2%
• CA respondents = 572, response rate = 10%, margin of error = +/-4%
• Survey fielded December 16, 2013 - January 16, 2014
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014

21. Additional SHRM Resources
• SHRM California Resources
» http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/pages/california.aspx
• SHRM Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE)
» http://www.shrm.org/research/monthlyemploymentindices/line/pages/default.aspx
• SHRM Jobs Outlook Survey (JOS)
» http://www.shrm.org/research/monthlyemploymentindices/lmo/pages/default.aspx
• SHRM Metro Economic Outlooks
» http://www.shrm.org/research/monthlyemploymentindices/pages/metroeconomicoutlooks.asp
x
• SHRM’s Workforce Readiness Resource Page
» http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/staffingmanagement/articles/pages/workforcereadiness.asp
x
• SHRM Foundation: What’s Next: Future Global Trends Affecting Your Organization, Evolution of
Work and the Worker
» http://www.shrm.org/about/foundation/shapingthefuture/documents/2-
14%20theme%201%20paper-final%20for%20web.pdf
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 21

22. About SHRM Research
For more survey/poll findings, visit shrm.org/surveys
For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research Services, visit
shrm.org/customizedresearch
Follow us on Twitter @SHRM_Research
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 22
Project lead:
Tanya Mulvey, researcher, SHRM Research
Project contributors:
Alexander Alonso, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM Research
Evren Esen, director, Survey Programs, SHRM Research
Yan Dong, Survey Research Center, SHRM Research
Christina Lee, researcher, SHRM Research
Qikun Niu, intern, SHRM Research
Jennifer Schramm, manager, Workplace Trends and Forecasting, SHRM Research
Joseph Coombs, senior analyst, Workforce Trends, SHRM Research
Copy editor:
Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center

23. Founded in 1948, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the
world’s largest HR membership organization devoted to human resource management.
Representing more than 275,000 members in over 160 countries, the Society is the
leading provider of resources to serve the needs of HR professionals and advance the
professional practice of human resource management. SHRM has more than 575
affiliated chapters within the United States and subsidiary offices in China, India and
United Arab Emirates. Visit us at shrm.org.
Economic Conditions—California Global Competition and Hiring Strategies ©SHRM 2014 23
About SHRM