Tough Times for Exec Search Firms in DC

On the front page of today's Washington Post Business Section. Even in the country's best job market, search firms are feeling the pinch. Many are shifting lines of business, shedding poor performers, but uncertainty still reigns supreme. There may be a light at the end of the tunnel however due to upcoming bailout and stimulus spending, which reminds me of my late grandfather telling me stories about how life in DC during the Great Depression wasn't so bad, primarily due to the proximity of the federal government.

Read more here: http://tinyurl.com/dzn5k5

Comment by Steve Levy on February 9, 2009 at 10:47am: And on CNN last evening, panelists were adamant that the DC community is thriving with all the lobbying being conducted...

Yet as noted in the link you gave, it takes time for a large ship (K/F, H/S, S/S, etc.) to respond to an attack leaving the smaller, agile firms who possess farsight to take some of the business away from the behemoths.

I found this quote curious from the blue-suits... What is clear is that gone are the days of executive searches that a critic once described as "visiting the freezer, thawing out a couple of stiffs and sending them over to the client to be hired," said Robert J. Brudno, managing director of D.C.-based Savoy Partners. Is he saying that this is how the retained business works? If so, then those who work like this deserve to go out of business.

Stress always uncovers who are the players and who are the pretenders.