Prime beef that is! What I mean by prime beef is those individuals whose talents and skills exceed the average person in the market, and quite frankly companies are finding them in short supply. Not because they don’t exist, but because a lot of companies aren’t prepared to pay the higher price for the level of talent they desire, and as we all know in a supply and demand world if you can’t pay the market price for the goods then you need to look at different goods. Can you say Grade A?

Obviously comparing top talent to beef may tick a few IT professionals off, but this metaphor is really for companies that feel that since The Fed has mentioned the word recession it gives them the ability to hold the line (or even reduce) salaries. However, nothing could be further from the truth because they are failing to understand their real pool of talent. Companies tend to think there are huge talent pools for them to pull from, but they fail to take into consideration that with every new required skill or experience it dramatically reduces the pool (think about the results of a Google search as you add new criteria). So when a company says they need someone with skills in Java/SAP/.Net/etc. they do have a large pool, but as they require all the bells and whistles, say that they need industry specific knowledge, can’t relocate, have a candidate that really fits the corporate culture and have all this while fitting within a very rigid salary range the number of people available rapidly begins to work it’s way toward zero.

So understand that the talents out there, but it will require you to be more creative and flexible in your hiring model to be successful.