Creative Staff Searching

* With the labor market getting tighter and tighter, employers this year have been resorting to all kinds of innovative means to find qualified staffers. Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an employment firm, says desperation is forcing companies to become even more creative. Southwest Airlines, for example, is turning flight attendants and frequent fliers into headhunters. The attendants are asking passengers to submit to the airline the resumes of qualified high-tech workers. Challenger Gray says many companies are also thinking about previously untapped sources, such as teenagers with computer skills.

Expansion Through Acquisition

* Many fast-growing companies are achieving their goals through expansion, reports management consultants Coopers & Lybrand. Nearly a quarter of fast-growth companies have bought at least one other business, and 48% are planning an acquisition in the next three years, the firm says. Buying an existing firm means a company doesn’t have to start from scratch--it already has a customer base and doesn’t have to incur research and development costs.

Comeback Kids?

* The stock market is usually pretty vigilant about punishing companies whose profits disappoint. For that reason, Dow Theory Forecasts newsletter is recommending “companies whose recent earnings were impacted by one-time events or short-term industry problems” and could bounce back in 1998. The prospective turnarounds, all of which had price declines in 1997, include: CBS Corp. (formerly Westinghouse), broadcasting; Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., casinos; PepsiCo Inc., soft drinks, snacks; Vishay Intertechnology Inc., electronics; and NCR Corp., data warehousing.

Mutual Fund Reports Delayed

* The Investment Company Institute said it delayed release of its monthly and weekly reports on mutual fund assets until Monday. The industry trade group’s report on stock mutual funds for November 1997 and its report on money-market mutual funds for the week ended Dec. 30 had been expected on Friday.