Executive search firms want to see more sustained corporate hiring at the management level and more consistent economic data before they rebuild their own firms by adding new consulting and research staff.

In February, ExecuNet's benchmark Search Firm Hiring Index revealed that 23 percent of 130 responding executive recruiters indicated they would be adding new professional research and consulting staff over the next three months, a decline of five points from January.

While more search firms indicate they are busier now than at times in 2011, it's clear that they want to see more sustained demand for executive talent before they invest in the resources to keep pace with an increase in executive hiring.

Factors such as the performance of the stock market, confidence among consumers and chief executives, and the health of national and regional economies around the world all combine to influence executive hiring, and they're sure to also set the stage for search firm hiring in the months to come.

Joseph Daniel McCool
Joseph Daniel McCool is senior contributing editor with ExecuNet and principal of management recruiting/succession advisory firm The McCool Group. He is also the author of Deciding Who Leads: How Executive Recruiters Drive, Direct & Disrupt the Global Search for Leadership Talent, recognized widely as "one of the best business books of 2008," and its Brazilian Portuguese translation, Escolhendo Líderes, published in June 2010.

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