Trends in the recruitment and hiring practices of U.S. private sector firms were examined by analyzing data from the following: a literature review; telephone discussions with representatives of 13 key national labor market intermediaries (outplacement, career management, job search, screening, and staffing service firms); telephone discussions with 12 individual firms identified as being high-performance work organizations (HPWOs); and focus groups with a total of 26 employers in 3 cities. Among the trends identified were the following: employers are increasingly using a strategic mix of different staffing methods; prerecruitment activities are receiving increased emphasis; internal hiring through promotion/reassignment is among the preferred methods of filling job openings; hiring the right person for the job is increasingly considered a high-stakes decision; practices to select among candidates after the initial screening include testing for specific job-related skills, staff leasing, assessing personality traits, and conducting targeted interviews; and firms identified as HPWOs tend to face fewer challenges in recruiting new workers. Implications for the private and public sectors were discussed. (Contains 247 references. Appendices contain summaries of the following: telephone discussions with labor market intermediaries; discussions with individual firms; and employer focus groups.) (MN)