(Avery Point Group: Alpharetta, GA) -- Companies flush with strong balance sheets after taking drastic actions during the recession are clearly making aggressive moves to bolster their internal talent pools by seeking both lean and Six Sigma talent, according to the seventh annual study from The Avery Group, which this year comprised reviews of nearly 6,700 recent Internet job postings. This study found that the combined demand for lean and Six Sigma talent has increased by more than 90 percent since last year.

“This year’s dramatic increase for lean and Six Sigma skills may have more to do with ensuring corporate performance and leveraging expected rising demand versus an early signal of overall hiring," says Tim Noble, managing principal and partner of The Avery Point Group. “Companies are seeking lean and Six Sigma talent as a way to help their organizations better leverage their performance during the ongoing recovery. They don’t want to add back one-for-one on head count, inventory, and operating cost as the economy recovers and volume returns. Rather, they see continuous improvement talent as an enabler to help them gain and maintain significant performance leverage.”

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