Pros
Some of the best people in sales and staffing work there and hopefully don’t quit. Supportive coworkers, immediate managers. Collaborative even with different teams. Brand recognition with the workforce. You work directly with the hiring managers and don’t need to “sell” your candidate to a sales rep. Good mix of contract and direct hire reqs. Every job board is available to you. Autonomy to run your desk. Lateral opportunities exist but forward career progression is difficult. I love my team, my office and my coworkers. It’s the only thing that keeps me at Kelly. I can work remote or work out of a branch. Kelly does care about their contractors & client companies and walks the talk with EOE.
Kontras
Each division of Kelly has a different comp plan. I work in a space that is closest to boutique staffing versus vms. Commission plan changed in July and was basically reduced. This is also the 3rd commission plan during my tenure and each change reduced commission payout. This new plan put front line workers into draw because commissions paid out on previous plan were higher. You only commission on half the revenue you generate (bill a $20k fee, only $10k counts towards your commission pay out and your revenue metrics)-this piece isn’t new but most recruiters and sales reps don’t realize this and they won’t tell you this during an interview. Many feel this new plan is designed so that tenured people leave and then Kelly doesn’t have to pay out a commission. You have to have staffing/hiring and employee management experience in order to be successful as there is no support and recruiter training does not cover the abnormal situations that you will encounter, also many do not have a manager on-site that can help you ; corporate resources are hard to find. Metrics are insane and really not worth the subpar commission that you will earn. If you still plan on applying to Kelly as a recruiter or account exec, negotiate the highest base you can, because you will never get a raise because the recruiting and sales managers’ new bonus plan incentives them to hire junior staff. George Corona is retiring and was well respected leader that actually recruited and sold in the staffing industry. Everything is on the recruiter. You are the receptionist, talent manager, customer account manager, sales person (especially in markets where sales reps have no staffing experience), sourcer, onboarding Specialist, and axe-man when you have to let your contractor go. 10-12 hour days are normal. Kelly has a habit of complicating the simplest process. All the negative reviews on Glassdoor from internal staff is true. Every week someone tenured (3+ years with Kelly) quits. Turn over in staffing is always high but has increased significantly at Kelly in all levels, ground floor to c-suite.
