San Francisco: Companies across a range of industries are still
hiring senior corporate communications executives in spite of the
economic downturn and the September 11 attacks.
These findings, gleaned from recent studies conducted by New York-based
executive search firm Heyman Associates, were announced by CEO William
Heyman at the San Francisco Public Relations Roundtable meeting last
week.
The upturn actually began before the attacks, he said. "From August 1 to
September 10, we booked more new searches than we had all summer," he
told the group. "Additionally, we didn't lose any searches after the
terrorist attacks. We have actually begun new searches since then."
Heyman said companies are trying to figure out how to stay relevant in a
changing economy, and may be trying to take a new approach to PR.
Companies in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, managed care,
accounting, law, and advertising industries are among those looking for
PR managers. Heyman added that he anticipates greater activity in
financial services and mature technology companies early next year.
