Brenda Arce, Vice President & Branch Director, Robert Half

In an interview with Invest:, Brenda Arce, vice president and branch director of Robert Half, discussed how employers are approaching hiring in a shifting labor market and how staffing firms are balancing technology with human judgment. “Companies are still being cautious of the type of skill sets that they’re looking for, but they’re still hiring, and I think that they’re focused on strategic hiring,” Arce said.

How is your Miami-Fort Lauderdale team adapting to current hiring trends across industries such as finance, technology, and legal?

We have over 325 offices, including a presence in Brickell, Fort Lauderdale, and Doral, so that covers the Miami and Fort Lauderdale markets. We are a specialized staffing firm, and we focus on accounting and finance, technology, legal, administrative support, and marketing. 

In general, accounting and technology are two divisions that are always growing. That is not to say that the others are not, but there is big growth and a lot of changes within those areas. I focus particularly on accounting and finance, so that is my area. In general, the market is steady. Companies are continuing to hire for these types of roles, while also looking at all of the changes within technology and how they are going to be handling hiring over the next year.

What differentiates Robert Half’s approach to connecting employers with talent compared to other staffing firms in such a competitive regional market?

One of our main differentiators is that, besides being stable in the industry, we are a specialized staffing firm. Not every staffing firm has a whole team that is only dedicated, for example, to accounting and finance, or dedicated to technology. Sometimes you may have one recruiter handling everything. On our side, we do have specialized teams, and many of those teams come from the same backgrounds that they are staffing for.

For example, in legal, we have attorneys who are staffing legal positions. We have technology experts who come from that field, and that is what they are staffing. So we are specialized in that sense. We are also continuing to stay current with the latest technologies, integrating AI into our systems to help match candidates with open roles and to be able to reach out to more candidates faster. 

Which areas are seeing the highest demand right now, and why?

In Miami, real estate and property management are areas that are showing growth, as Miami is a hub where real estate is always growing. Those are strong areas for us. We also work a lot within government and education, so those are areas where we continue to see activity as well. Those are some of the industries we work with most often.

How does Robert Half ensure the quality and readiness of candidates before presenting them to clients?

We take the time to meet with all of our candidates and find out what they are looking for. It is not just about placing them in a job. I want to be able to place someone who is the best match possible for that position. That means understanding what the candidate is looking for as well.

We go through their background in detail, their skill set, and what their long-term plan is, so that we are also able to advise them on what kinds of positions may be a good fit. For example, I may have recent college graduates who studied accounting but do not yet have experience and have been working in retail or in other areas that are not focused on accounting.

In those situations, I may advise them that even though they are looking for a long-term accounting position, the best way to start getting experience right now may be to take a temporary accounting clerk position or a project role for four or six weeks. That can help them begin building that path.

Sometimes candidates want the perfect long-term position immediately, but taking a consulting or temporary position can help them get there and create that opportunity. Many times, a client brings someone in temporarily, sees their work ethic, and verifies their skill set. That opens the door within that same company. We do see that happen often.

How has candidate and client demand for flexible work evolved in the region?

That was a huge trend after the pandemic, and it is something that we are still seeing. There are still a lot of candidates looking for flexibility, hybrid arrangements, or remote work, and that has made it more challenging to find talent in the marketplace.

In Miami, I think the preference is still for candidates to be on-site, but managers understand that this is not a topic that is going away anytime soon, so they are making adjustments. In some cases, they may decide they need to pay a little more in order to have someone come into the office full time. In other cases, they may have a particular budget and be more flexible about going remote in order to find the right skill set. Overall, hiring managers are analyzing what is going to work best for them, and they understand that hybrid and remote work are things they need to think about if they want to find the best talent.

Candidates are still interested in having that flexibility. We also explain to them that many companies may be willing to provide that after the employee has shown a proven track record. It may not be offered at first, but it can become a possibility later on.

How is Robert Half evolving its recruiting strategies to keep up with rapidly changing skill demands in the market?

Robert Half  continues to invest in AI technologies including using AI to help match talent with job opportunities. Employers come to us because we are specialized and because we are constantly recruiting for top talent.

An employer may put out a job ad and receive a lot of resumes that look perfect, but what they are noticing is that because AI is such a big tool now, they may meet those candidates and realize the skills do not actually match the resume. Applicants are using AI to make their resumes look stronger, and then when they are interviewed, they may not be able to explain a skill set, explain their experience, or explain how to use the software they listed.

That is when clients come to us after spending weeks interviewing and say that even though they are getting a lot of candidates, they know we are meeting candidates constantly and selecting the ones who best match what they are looking for. Even though we are also using AI, we still have that human element. We are doing the interviews, the references, the skill testing, and all of that, so we are able to find a candidate more quickly who actually has the skills they need.

Are there any important themes or topics that you would also like to mention?

Companies are still being cautious of the type of skill sets that they’re looking for, but they’re still hiring, and I think that they’re focused on strategic hiring. They know that AI is not going to replace skill sets. After utilizing AI so heavily last year, companies are now at a point where they understand that it helps productivity, but it is not going to replace employees. They are being more strategic about the type of candidates they are hiring and are still bringing that talent into their organizations.