Although recruitment can be quite expensive, organizations have not always treated it as systematically as other HR functions, such as selection. During the coming year, however, the importance of recruitment will probably increase for many organizations. Statistics released by the U.S. Department of labor indicate that unemployment has recently hit levels lower than the country has seen in the past thirty years. As a result, despite the fact that in 1998 and continuing into 1999 announced organizational layoffs reached 10-year high experts anticipate a growing number of labor shortages in high skills areas.