(Avery Point Group: Atlanta) -- The recession and rapid slumping of sales are forcing many companies to reevaluate their priorities with regard to their continuous improvement initiatives. As a result, there’s a high demand for lean talent skill sets, according to a new study by The Avery Point Group.

“As an executive recruiting firm, we have a unique vantage point from which to observe the latest trends taking place in industry,” says Tim Noble, managing principal of The Avery Point Group. “Trends in industry are often telegraphed into candidate requirements in job postings and they can serve as a window into the latest corporate initiatives. Our annual study continues to serve as an industry benchmark that offers useful insight into the latest trends taking place in the area of corporate continuous improvement.”

Based on its fifth annual study of internet job postings, The Avery Point Group found that demand for lean talent continues to gain ground over Six Sigma as the more desired skill set, reinforcing last year’s study that signaled an ongoing shift in focus toward lean. This year’s study showed that lean talent demand exceeded Six Sigma by almost 11 percent, further widening its lead over last year’s results that showed only a slight edge for lean over Six Sigma.

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