Today, CareerBuilder.com and the Inavero Institute announced the upcoming release of a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive staffing industry guide. The guide is based on a nationwide three-year study among more than 1,500 staffing industry clients and 8,800 job candidates.

The study, scheduled to be published in full on September 26, 2008, identifies key opportunities and insights for staffing firms related to topics such as improving brand awareness, communication and the overall user experience.

Some of the study’s takeaways include:

• Fewer than 25 percent of companies nationwide currently utilize a staffing or recruiting firm to help with their HR needs
• One-in-five job candidates utilizes a staffing or recruiting firm as part of their job search
• 45 percent of clients have changed or seriously considered changing primary staffing firms within the last 12 months

You can download a free executive summary here.

In other employer news this week….

• This puts “employee retention” in a whole new light…worker death rates hit historic low in 2007
• And what did your company do today?  Pricewaterhouse Coopers employees give $4 million toward building schools
• Are mandatory paid sick days in your company’s future?  Possibly, if you’re in one of the 12 states pushing the issue.
• Did your city make the list?  CollegeGrad releases its list of the top cities for entry-level job seekers.