Bernhart Survey: Recession Easing Its Grip on Direct Marketing Employment

Despite the uptick in the survey's overall results, Bernhart foresees no significant comeback in direct marketing hiring until at least 2010.

"You can't stage a recovery with only one in five direct marketers planning to hire, and one-third of the others holding on to hiring freezes with no plans to lift them until at least the end of the year. In my conversations with senior level executives, there is no consistent level of optimism in the current economic environment for them to jump into the employment market. I'm also seeing that same caution in executive search. Companies are telling us they're thinking about making staffing changes, but they are slow to pull the trigger."