Smaller businesses find wealth of talent for hire

Peter Wiesinger had survived two layoffs at Genworth Financial last year when he began to hear inklings of another round of cuts.

Wiesinger liked Genworth but was concerned about his future at the company. So the then-vice president of marketing started quietly looking around.

A recruiter soon came calling about a job at Mondial Assistance, which provides travel insurance and 24-hour emergency assistance to customers. Wiesinger made the move there in January to become vice president of market management.

"It was a tenth of the size domestically of what Genworth was globally," Wiesinger said.

One bright spot of the recession is that smalland medium-sized businesses are finding they have access to talent previously unavailable to them.

The combination of swollen unemployment rolls and scarce jobs has resulted in some highly qualified job seekers -- from corporate executives and financial experts to IT wizards and salespeople -- taking jobs they may not have considered a few years ago.

"We had a lot of Fortune-ranked companies in the Richmond area that have dumped talent into the marketplace," said Genevieve A. Roberts, a partner and co-founder of the Titan Group LLC, a human resource-consulting firm in western Henrico County. "There are opportunities for organizations to find talent today that they wouldn't necessarily have had."

A study released this month by the Economic Policy Institute reported that for every five job seekers in April, there was one job opening. In December 2007, when the recession began, there was 1.7 jobs for every job seeker.

That means it's an employer's market.

"This is an opportunity for small businesses that I've never seen before," said David Gallagher, CEO of Dominion Payroll Services in Richmond. "There are lots of qualified people on the streets."

The loss of some major employers in the Richmond area has worked to the benefit of small-business recruiting.

At Mondial, Wiesinger works with former employees of Anthem BlueCross/BlueShield, LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. and Circuit City Stores Inc. All have cut jobs. Circuit City and LandAmerica filed for bankruptcy and have closed down or are in the process of selling assets.

"We're trying to find some of the best and brightest that are out there," said Daniel Durazo, director of external communications at Mondial.

While some positions at smaller companies may lead to pay cuts, others offer bigger roles and more access to company leaders.

Wiesinger didn't take a pay cut, he has more of a voice in shaping the company's direction, and he got to stay in Richmond. "It was a very nice opportunity to keep the family lifestyle intact, as well as advance my career."

Another hire is Mike Kunc, a regional director of human resources for Anthem who is now Mondial's vice president and chief human-resources officer.

"In coming to a company like Mondial, I'm part of setting the vision of the organization," Kunc said. "That's an opportunity in itself that you may not have in a large company."

When it comes to finding talent, Ken Wayland, president and co-founder of Free Agents Marketing, said he believes his firm has "unequivocally" benefited in this economy.

Last year, he hired four people from Circuit City and two whose jobs were being eliminated at NBC Channel 12.

"If somebody is going to put talent on the street, I am going to be available for dialogue," he said. The advertising, public-relations and event-planning firm has 25 employees.

Among the employees he added are Laura Wagner and Dawn Young.

Wagner left Circuit City to join Free Agents. She is now the firm's creative director. Eventually, three more of her former colleagues joined her to form the core of Free Agents' new creative team.

"I was able to bring the best of the best with me," Wagner said.

Young, who worked for eight years in sales at NBC 12, said the smaller business environment suits her.

"When you are in a company of 25 people, you have more direct contact," said Young, now a senior account executive at Free Agents. "Everybody's opinion matters here; I love having that kind of direct line to the top, just being able to be a part of our innovation and being able to suggest new ways of doing things."

While Wayland is not actively seeking new employees now, "I receive a minimum, on average, of five résumés a week," he said. A year ago, he might have received two a month.

The same can be said at Dominion Payroll, where Gallagher has been adding to his staff.

One of those hires is Mauri Whitehurst, who joined the payroll company in March 2008. For 17 years, she handled financial systems for Cadmus Communications, which was the fifth-largest periodicals printer in North America before Connecticut-based commercial printer Cenveo Inc. bought the company.

Layoffs hit, the workload grew heavier and the company culture changed. She left for Dominion, which today has 22 employees.

"I wouldn't say it was so much a step back," Whitehurst said. "It's just different. I feel like I'm more of a business consultant."

"I definitely felt like I brought a lot to the table and I could really help further the organization," Whitehurst added.

Gallagher also hired Mackenzie Sanderson, who has a degree in applied mathematics and is surpassing expectations as a payroll manager. Her position typically requires previous payroll experience, which doesn't necessarily mean a college degree.

"I hired her from a florist," Gallagher said. "This is a huge find for us. She's like Google smart."

The challenge for these companies is to make sure they make the right choices when bringing new people into the company, Roberts said.

Company culture, expectations and chances for advancement all affect whether an employee is happy and successful.

"You don't want to overhire for a job and two years later the person is ready for a new job," Roberts said.

Gallagher said the risk is worth it.

"Even if you get these people for a couple of years, either they get to make your organization better or you get to ride their experience for a few years and you're no worse off."

Contact Emily C. Dooley at (804) 649-6016 or .

Staff writer John Reid Blackwell contributed to this report.