🔒As it helps others recruit talent, Aquinas Consulting is on its own hiring spree

The state’s labor shortage has been well-documented in recent months, with employers in myriad industries looking to fill open positions amid a still-ongoing pandemic.

Milford-based staffing agency Aquinas Consulting has seen first-hand employers’ struggles in finding qualified talent. It’s also been actively searching for its own new employees.

In the past two years, the company has added 50 new jobs and plans to hire an additional 30 positions over the next 12 months, according to Tom Mercaldo, Aquinas’ president who co-founded the firm with Haruthay “Pam” Rasmidatta in 2000.

Aquinas' growth has attracted the attention of the state, which recently agreed to provide the company a $150,000 grant, once it hits its planned hiring target.

Mercaldo said he is bullish about his firm hitting that goal. Aquinas currently employs 200 people and has expanded over the past 20 years from its Milford headquarters to serve clients in 23 states — often fueled, he said, by Connecticut-based companies with staffing needs in other locations across the country.

The increase in his own staff has been driven by greater demand in Connecticut’s key growth sectors — information technology, aerospace, manufacturing, life sciences and financial services — where Aquinas Consulting specializes.

Despite the boom in business that helped Aquinas generate $26 million in revenue in 2021, Mercaldo said his clients still face headwinds in finding talent — including trained staff to fill in-demand jobs — and from the increased costs of doing business in the state.

He noted that Connecticut's minimum wage will increase to $15 per hour next year, which will be more easily absorbed in some industries and parts of the state, than others.

As an example, he pointed to a manufacturing client that has 80 percent of its workers earning minimum wage.

“When you bump the minimum wage 36% from $11 [in Oct. 2019] to $15 [by June 2023], some companies need to consider moving production overseas or to other states to be able to compete in the global marketplace,” Mercaldo said. “It’s better to have a minimum-wage job than no job and I fear we are making Connecticut uncompetitive in certain industries.”

And it’s not just the impact on Connecticut’s smaller companies that concern Rasmidatta, Aquinas’ CEO and co-founder; it’s the departure of corporate giants like General Electric to neighboring states, too.

“When companies move out of state, it has a [ripple] effect on [staffing] companies,” Rasmidatta said. “Tax policies play a big role in these [types of company] decisions so [it’s important] to keep taxes lower and remain competitive.”

Mercaldo said in recent years the relocation out of Connecticut of four large clients — including GE — has cost Aquinas about $8 million in revenue. But it has been able to recoup about 60 percent of that lost business through its 80-company client base, particularly as demand for workers has spiked over the last year.

Despite the challenges, both Mercaldo and Rasmidatta said that connecting people to work opportunities to improve their lives remains their passion.

“To help place people into a job that they are happy with … and to help clients find qualified people to work for them … is very rewarding,” said Rasmidatta.

Complex skill sets

Since its founding, Aquinas has placed more than 3,000 people in jobs, including more than 400 last year. While the firm helps fill roles at all levels, it focuses primarily on mid-level professionals.

That requires an in-depth knowledge of the industries it serves and trained recruiters, Mercaldo said. He said the company’s rotational-based leadership development program exposes his employees to all facets of the staffing business.

“We’re looking to fill very complex skill sets, so [we] really need to understand our customers' businesses,” Mercaldo said. “If I can place four or five out of 100 candidates in jobs in the next 30 days, that’s success.”

The current — and likely continuing trend of remote work — has presented dual challenges for staffing firms, Mercaldo said.

“If people aren’t working in our office, it’s more difficult for us to provide quality assurance for the work they're doing,” he said, noting the in-house roles his company is looking to fill include recruiters, account managers and customer service representatives. “And it’s more difficult to train [new] people in a remote working environment.”

Additionally, competition in the space is growing as online recruitment and overseas production services have increased, putting pressure on fees and profit margins.

Mercaldo said the cost Aquinas charges is typically based on a fixed percentage (usually 20 percent) of a recruit’s annual salary.

And he said he’s invested much of that revenue back into the business over the past two decades to keep it growing.

“This industry is part of my calling in life,” he said. “To help people get jobs that are going to improve their lives.”