Argonne National Laboratory - Competitors

Argonne National Laboratory Competition

Now Viewing Argonne National Laboratory's competition in: Professional Services

Recent Developments

Firms Have Hiring Difficulties - Professionals in accounting and finance are getting harder to find. A report by Robert Half International indicates that it's increasingly difficult for accounting and finance companies to hire the people they need; globally, 56 percent of firms surveyed indicate that they can't find enough qualified employees. In the US, keeping those employees is even more difficult: 73 percent of firms report concerns about keeping their best employees in 2008 compared to 46 percent in 2007.

"Green" Advertising Losing Steam - The ad industry is increasingly focused on offering consumers "green" ads, which explain a company or product's environmental friendliness. However, some in the industry are concerned that the overwhelming number of green ads in the past couple of years is burning consumers out. Experts' fears are based on increased consumer complaints about false environmental ad claims. The FTC is reportedly considering updates to its green advertising guidelines.

Online Advertising Grows in Canada - Advertising is undergoing a well-documented shift to take advantage of rising Internet use. A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers report confirms that, in Canada, online advertising increased over 33 percent in 2007 compared to 2006, and predicts that online advertising will continue its healthy growth through 2012. However, the report notes that traditional newspaper and TV advertising are still important for older consumers.

Competitive Landscape

Demand is driven heavily by the health of the US economy and particularly by corporate profits. While some professional services are necessary for the normal functioning of most companies, some of the most profitable services aren't considered essential and are often postponed when corporate profits are low. The profitability of professional service firms is closely tied to good marketing, because many costs are fixed. Small firms can compete successfully with large firms in their segment if they offer special expertise.

Full Industry Overview For Professional Services

Professional Services Industry Forecast

from Hoover's/D&B subsidiary First Research

The output of US professional services is forecast to grow at an annual compounded rate of 3.6 percent between 2007 and 2012.

Professional Services Growth Levels

First Research forecasts are based on INFORUM forecasts that are licensed from the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc. (IERF) in College Park, MD. INFORUM's "interindustry-macro" approach to modeling the economy captures the links between industries and the aggregate economy.