High Tide Raises All Ships - Where Is Your Boat?

Today posses an interesting time for all of us.

For months the media has been reporting how bad the market is and how unemployment and jobless claims are skyrocketing, that this bad and that is bad, the stimulus sucks and health care reform etc. blah, blah, blah. People are fearful, concerned and desperate. On the flip side, other people are absolutely slammed with work and may be the most productive they have ever been in their lives.

Hear me out on this...as an Executive Recruiter, I have the pleasure of speaking with hundreds of business owners and senior marketing executives for major brands across the globe. Our team has the opportunity to see and hear things on a macro level. When you talk with so many people, you can't help but to feel the pulse of things. Activity is picking up, deals are being made, infrastructures are being tightened, strategic planning is happening and believe it or not, the right people, "TOP TALENT" are being hired. We do see as well that companies are still a bit hesitant to actually pull the trigger on some of these hires as they hope to squeeze every last bit of productivity out of their current team. Which brings an entirely new challenge, burn out.

More and more people are actually open to making a move. A few months ago, people were hesitant to even consider a change. We would hear all day long that "I am not looking to make a change right now, I am just lucky enough to even have a job." Today there are so many passive candidates willing and ready to throw their names in the hat it is ridiculous. There are 3 types of people in the employment market. Active, Passive and Non-Active. Active being the ones who are actively and aggressively seeking a job. Passive people are the ones that would look if something enticing came up and Non-Active would not change jobs no matter what. One year ago, the labor pool consisted of 20% Active, 60% Passive and 20% Non-Active. Today, if I was allowed to make an almost dead-on accurate guess, the market is 25% Active, 70% Passive, 5% Non-Active. What are your thoughts on this?

People, there are jobs everywhere. Things are happening...companies are getting ready for the big turn. Can you see it happening? The tide is rising and companies are looking to bring in talent. Now is the time for us to make things happen. Who is with me?

Comment by bill josephson on August 25, 2009 at 11:35am: I can appreciate you see it. I don't see it. I hear some talking about it. Seems to me companies have had to cut costs and people to survive and as long as we're losing jobs instead of adding a minimum of 150,000 jobs per month needed I don't see any massive consumer spending.

I do see India/Asia/China/Brazil/Switzerland among a few others doing well. Those in cheaper cost of doing business/labor intensive countries causing the stock market to rise. I do still see a vibrant healthcare market in the US. That's about it.

I'll keep fighting in survival mode recruiting passive invisible candidates for the small number of clients considering hiring till I see the employment corner being turned.

Bill

Comment by Darrin Grella on August 25, 2009 at 2:47pm: Good choice Bill to keep recruiting in "survival mode" as you refer to it. It has been some of that for sure.
I have thought a lot about this. When we work with a candidate (or client I suppose) there are objections and conditions, right? I feel we can fall into the same rut. Let me explain, is our attitude or outlook on the available opportunities a condition or more of a bought in objection? Are we the thermostat or the thermometer? I am not suggesting we can make the clients use our services however I do feel that our get it done, what ever it takes attitude will be the difference between a good year and a bad year.
Keep plugging along and I appreciate your thoughts. Let's get on the phone and make things happen!
Darrin

Comment by bill josephson on August 25, 2009 at 3:06pm: Darrin....."Getting it done, whatever it takes, getting on the phone making things happen," that's all the keys. I'll take that realistic attitude anytime as it's unlikely we can talk a cash hamstrung client into buying talking up the economy, but we can persevere in our effort.

Bill

Comment by Jason Monastra on August 25, 2009 at 3:24pm: I must agree with the article. The truth is that there is a great deal of movement both from the company and consultant side. You will find that there is movement there before the perm sector, but with a confidence in the air that seems to be developing - companies are moving away from their restrictive hiring practices and trying to catch some good talent at a reasonable price before the market begins to pressure wages upward.

Comment by Saleem Qureshi on August 26, 2009 at 6:40am: I see it happening, I am with you. I had mentioned in my recent blog "Hiring frenzy..." that we need to figure out where our top talent is right now, and give them the opportunity to get a higher paying job... I have noticed that the salary quoted these days is higher, and companies are willing to pay that for to talent

Comment by Chris Keller on August 28, 2009 at 11:06am: I am talking to candidates who are getting interviews (phone and in-person) so there is hiring going on. The interview process is taking a little longer than usual.