In August of 2009 this blog posted It’s an Employers Market, Ugh! that noted the unattractive attitude of some organizations growing their workforce. That blog said “…hiring organizations that act with arrogance and blatant disrespect, just because they happen to be growing in this down marked, would benefit from some sole searching and a small dose of modesty.” At the time, all headlines were gloom and doom. An economic turn around wasn’t on the horizon and many greedy organizations took advantage of the circumstances to hook top talent while burning bridges with runner up’s.
Last week, Dr. John Sullivan posted The War for Talent Is Returning; Don’t Get Caught Unprepared where he said, “Like it or not, the war for talent is returning and it is already at ferocious levels in the Silicon Valley and in other high-growth areas around the world.” and reminded readers that “If you’re not familiar with the “war for talent” phenomena, it involves a prolonged period of intense competition where top applicants are both scarce and arrogant, employees leave by the droves, firms regularly raid each other for talent, and bidding for top talent is commonplace.” That blog post is an excellent read and report on the market changes happening now.
The geospatial employment market is starting to resemble the Silicon Valley reality. For three or four years it has been a strong employer market where talent has had to fight hard to win a new position. Employers would list five job requirements and only consider candidates with seven of those five qualifications. The full recruitment life cycle has been extended not by days but by months. However, the tables may soon be turned.
While a large labor pool exists due to the Department of Labor’s 8.3% unemployment statistics, finding qualified and interested candidates for today’s open geospatial positions is dwindling. The number of resumes from candidates that meet specific criteria seem to be dramatically down and the time spent sifting through stacks of unqualified resumes is on the rise. This can be good news for active geospatial job seekers with relevant skills. This will most certainly spell trouble for employers unprepared for the changing trends.
What are you going to do to address these changes? Hiring bonus’s will return to lure qualified talent and retention incentives will reemerge to keep the talent you’ve got. In a candidate market organizations will definitely need to revise their talent management strategy and probably need professional help to develop a competitive analysis to meet their workforce goals.
