Analysts say the economy may be starting to turn around. As the dust begins to clear, 2010 could be “the year of rebuilding.” Rebuilding customer relationships. Rethinking business strategies. Reengineering processes. Renewing profitability. Equally important is the “people” side of business: Rebuilding the workforce.

Adding new skills serves as a long-term competitive advantage and ensures organizations are not caught off-guard when the economy does rebound. Taking advantage of the available talent during a soft job market is a sound strategy.

Now is the time to find the best candidates, while the talent pool is still deep. However that is easier said than done. HR and other executives may believe that because unemployment is relatively high, there is a bounty of talent to choose from.

And there is plenty of talent out there. The tricky part is finding the right fit. With job seekers flooding the market, thousands of resumes might be received for one open position. Even with advanced screening techniques, it’s extremely time-consuming to sort through the flood — particularly when HR departments were among the hardest hit when the layoffs came, and only a skeletal internal staff remains.

Rebuilding the HR department to pre-recession levels won’t provide the flexibility to staff up or down quickly during future economic shifts. Organizations who take this route will find themselves in the same conundrum down the road.

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), in which all or part of the recruiting process is outsourced, is an option that more organizations are exploring. RPO provides flexibility to staff up or down quickly, removes administrative hassle, improves time-to-hire and saves time and money. RPO addresses the current job market and plans for the inevitable up-ticks and downturns to come.

Before you rebuild your internal hiring capabilities, consider reengineering your recruiting strategy to build a solid foundation for the environment of the future, with RPO.

In the midst of an unstable economy, layoffs and hiring freezes, recruiting is a low priority, as businesses struggle just to stay afloat and weather the storm.

But now, from the board room to the break room; from Wall Street to Main Street, predictions are flying about when the recession will end. No one knows for certain, but one thing is clear: As organizations re-new their focus on profitability…while keeping budgets in check, status-quo recruiting techniques of the past are no longer acceptable. Organizations demand quantifiable proof of recruiting techniques.

Some HR execs believe that post-recession, low-cost recruiting is a no-brainer. High unemployment rates make hiring easier. Don’t be fooled. An influx of candidates doesn’t necessarily mean they are the right candidates. With job seekers flooding the market, it’s harder to find the right talent in a sea of applicants.

So how do organizations recruit successfully, while controlling costs? An excellent technique, in a good, bad or shifting economy, is Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), in which all or part of a company’s recruiting and hiring functions are outsourced.

Traditional HR recruiting is a fixed cost which may or may not produce the desired results. RPO is a variable cost, and firms pay only when they see results: successful hires.

Hiring needs will continually change. When times are good, organizations must staff up, but if the economy falters, staffing will slow or halt. RPO is flexible enough to make numerous hires quickly or limit hiring for a period of time. Properly managed RPO makes HR a nimble and flexible process, improves time to hire, increases the quality of the candidate pool, provides verifiable metrics and reduces costs.

We’ve all experienced an economic wake-up call: the economy is wrought with uncertainty. Now is the time to prepare for the recruiting needs of tomorrow.