Job seekers currently outweigh job openings six to one, according to the latest report from the Department of Labor (DOL). That’s the highest ratio since the DOL started recording those numbers in 2000.

Even though some things are getting better, experts say employers are too uncertain to start hiring again just yet.

What it means for HR: If you’re lucky enough to be hiring right now, it’s as much a buyer’s market as it’s been in recent years.

About 40% of employers say they’ll rehire many employees who were let go during the downturn, according to a recent survey by OI Partners.

Higher numbers were in the industries most affected by the economic downturn. For example, half of respondents in the financial sector expressed interest in rehiring laid-off employees, along with 47% in the construction industry.

The reason: To avoid training costs, it makes sense to bring back people who already know the work and the company.

No, according to one recent survey.

In fact, 43% of employers don’t use social networking to recruit and have no interest in starting, according to a recent poll by Smartbrief on Workforce. Another 29% haven’t tried, but are interested. Finally, 11% say they’ve tried, but haven’t seen any good results.

Just 17% of companies have successfully recruited through Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

What about you? Have you used those sites to attract new employees? If so, was it worth it? Let us know in the comments section below.

Daniel Seddiqui is a blogger on a mission to “explore the various careers, cultures and opportunities America has to offer.” How’s he achieving that goal? By working a different job in each state.

Seddiqui picks a job in a state that represents the area’s economy or culture, works for a week, then packs up and moves to the next gig. Think no one would hire this chronic job-hopper with little experience?

Think again. Seddiqui’s currently working his 49th job and just has one state (California) left to complete. Once he’s done, he plans to publish a book and video series about his experience. You can read about Seddiqui’s travels here.

More than half (53%) of businesses say they plan to add full-time staff within the next year, according to a recent survey by Robert Half International. Additionally, 40% plan to hire temporary or contract workers, while another 40% say they’ll add part-time employees.

That’s good news for the economy, but HR should be on the lookout for retention problems. Employees who have stuck around through increased workloads and pay decreases or wage freezes could try to move elsewhere when new jobs become available.

The best way to keep them? Not surprisingly, it’s money. About half (49%) of employees surveyed said it would take a raise to keep them in their current position, while 28% said they plan to ask for more pay when the economy improves. Also, 40% of companies said that once budgets are more flexible, they’ll use raises as their primary means of retaining top performers.

It can be a great time to hire. Here’s how to calculate whether hiring makes sense for you now, according to Diana Ransom of the Wall Street Journal:

1. Pick the right areas – Some departments may need more people, while others have too many. The first step in deciding when to hire should be to talk with managers and find out where increased headcount is necessary.
2. Estimate future sales – Sales reps can talk to existing customers and ask how much they plan to buy in the next 12 months. Also, ask the sales manager to estimate revenues from new customers.
3. Project added revenues – This can be tough to do for some positions, but Ransom uses the example of a production worker: If an employee can build 5 units per day, and each unit sells for $40, that’s $52,000 of revenue a year (as long as sales thinks it can sell that much).
4. Add up all costs – It’s important to keep in mind the total costs of hiring and employing a new person. In addition to salary and benefits, look at time and money spent recruiting, training costs and any equipment that must be purchased to accommodate a new worker.
5. Figure out profits – Use total costs compared to added revenues to estimate how much the company will make on its investment.
6. Hire temps – If there isn’t enough room in the budget to hire workers full-time, you can try hiring through a temp agency. That way, you’ll also avoid laying someone off if there’s no longer enough work in a few months.

When hiring for some jobs, managers need to take into account how the candidates will interact with customers. But managers can’t let customer preferences sway them into making biased decisions.

In one recent case, a temp agency was sued after repeatedly failing to hire women for certain jobs. The firm served clients  in the construction, freight handling, catering and janitorial industries.

Allegedly, available jobs were classified as “women’s jobs” or “men’s jobs.”

Why? Because customers asked the agency to do so. Apparently, some clients frequently asked the firm to only refer men for some positions. One female temp complained, but no change was made. She sued the temp agency, and other women joined the suit.

The firm tried to have the case thrown out, arguing that it was fulfilling its clients’ requests. But the judge didn’t buy that excuse. Since the women were technically employed by the staffing agency, the agency was liable for the bias.

The firm ended up settling for $250,000 (Cite: EEOC v. Preferred Labor LLC).

Customers ‘weren’t ready’

In another case, Walgreens was sued when a white assistant manager was promoted to store manager instead of an African-American with twice as much experience.

The company”s reason for the decision: The store was in a white area, and the hiring manager said the customers “were not ready to have a black manager.”

Again, the judge agreed that customers’ bias shouldn’t have been used to make the hiring decision. Walgreens lost the case (Cite: Simple v. Walgreen Co.).

Managers must be trained to avoid hiring based on race, gender and other protected classes — even when it’s in response to a stated or implied customer preference. That’s no less illegal than other kinds of biased decisions.

Here are five hiring manager behaviors job candidates don’t appreciate, according to Alison Green of U.S. News & World Report:

1. Disregarding candidates’ time – Applying for jobs requires a lot of time away from a current position, so applicants hope managers will respect their time by sticking to scheduled appointments, or at least apologizing and giving plenty of notice if things are shuffled. Also, candidates normally spend time researching the company before the interview, so they expect everyone in the interview to be familiar with their resume.
2. Not explaining a time line – Another thing candidates hate is having no idea when they’re going to hear back about a job. Of course, that’s always a little up in the air. But any kind of reasonable estimate shows the candidate you’re organized.
3. Misrepresenting the job – This is one candidates probably won’t realize until after they’re hired — but when they do find out, it’s doubtful they’ll stay very long. Honesty always works best when the manager wants to find the closest fit.
4. Being coy about money – It’s best to be upfront about this, especially if the company knows the candidate’s range and is willing to continue.
5. Not telling candidates they’re out of the running – At this point, you don’t have to worry about driving anyone away, but it’s just common courtesy.

As HR pros know, it’s not out of the question for candidates to inflate their past job titles and duties, or add academic degrees that were never completed.

But these days, many out-of-work managers are looking for stop-gap jobs and stretching the truth in a different way — by “dumbing down” their credentials so they don’t appear overqualified.

A lot of formerly high-up employees are willing to step a few rungs down the ladder just to get a steady paycheck. Often, that requires them to convince hiring managers they won’t jump ship the moment the market improves and something better comes up.

One way they’re doing that: changing job titles to look less impressive, according to the Wall Street Journal. For example, one marketing exec changed her previous jobs as “manager” and “trend researcher” to “staff” and “office support.”

Candidates are also hiding degrees and other academic achievements. One woman looking for temporary clerical work said she received no calls from employers until she stopped listing her master’s degree on her resume.

The best ways to spot this new type of dishonesty? The same ways HR and hiring managers catch other applicant lies — by asking probing questions during the interview and when checking references.

How concerned should employers be?

Many are worried because they want to avoid hiring overqualified employees, who might be disgruntled in lower-level work and may constantly have one foot out the door.

Others are less concerned about overqualification — but a lie is still a lie. If people are dishonest before they’re hired, how reliable will they be as employees?

What do you think? Have you caught any candidate with a “dumbed down” resume? Give us your opinion and experience in the comments section below.

Consider this scenario: You hire an employee. After a few months, you find out he dropped out of college — even though his resume said he’s graduated.

But in his first few months, he ended up being one of the top performers in his department.

Should he be fired for lying? Or does his value to the company outweigh the discrepancy?

What would you do in this situation? Let us know by dropping us a comment.