We are experiencing a very interesting market. Having been in the business for over 20 years, I have rarely seen a market in which both clients and candidate have the highest of expectations.
Obviously, for the last year or so, we have moved to a candidate-driven market. If you are an active job-seeker, you have a multitude of opportunities from which to choose. You may even be getting calls daily from both internal and external recruiters.
If you are a hiring manager, you are experiencing something similar to what we saw in 1999 and 2000; that is, a severe lack of talent. And the picture is not necessarily getting better. All indicators point to an extreme shortage of qualified candidates over the next 10 years. This is due to the fact that 22 million baby boomers will leave the workforce.
For both candidates and clients, the best advice I can offer is to be reasonable. If you are a candidate receiving one offer after another, and each one is $5000 higher, you must remember that after the frenzy subsides, you will still be working at this company. Is this where you really want to work? Or did the allure of the highest salary heavily influence your decision? After our last hiring boom, many candidates who changed jobs in the early 2000s routinely experienced 20 to 30% pay cuts. What goes up too fast must come down just as fast. The fluctuation of housing prices in many parts of the country bears this out.
Wouldn’t it be better to find the right job at the right company?
If you are a hiring manager, please remember that top talent is becoming increasingly difficult to find. Many progressive companies are hiring the best people for jobs that may or may not even exist today. These firms are not just “filling reqs”. If you wait to fill each requirement in a linear fashion, you may be missing out on the best people.
Things will correct themselves, just as the housing market is currently doing. Stay reasonable, stay humble, and really examine what you are trying to achieve and you will do fine in this market, and be poised for even better things when the market shifts.
Steve Gold has been a recruiter for the West Coast market for over 20 years, and has seen many market shifts during his tenure.
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