With U.S. unemployment climbing to 8.9% in April, it has been widely perceived for some time that the domestic labor market has been advantageous for employers. The thinking goes like this. With only minimal advertising, employers can attract hundreds of qualified applicants for many positions in only a few days. Competition among job applicants is fierce and many apply for jobs for which they are overqualified. Many are willing to reduce their compensation expectations. Employers can be more selective than ever, for example specifying applicants only from their industry. So why wouldn’t this be an employer’s job market?
There are several reasons. Not all employers are hiring now, focusing instead on minimizing risk and reducing cost through reductions in force and trimming benefits. Among employers who are trying to fill jobs, how many have optimized their recruitment and selection processes and are acting strategically? This includes developing a workforce plan and organizational design that identifies essential jobs and organizes them for optimum productivity. How much of their selection processes are focused on assessing organizational fit instead of skills? Are the right people involved in determining qualifications and making hiring decisions and have they been sufficiently trained? Are you still using the same talent strategies and tactics from a few years ago? Do you know what makes an applicant a terrific organizational fit?
If you cannot answer these questions definitively, you may be setting up your employer for failure. Fortunate employers who have the budget and need to recruit now must be smarter than ever. Otherwise, when unemployment drops and the 40% to 60% of currently employed who are dissatisfied with their jobs begin actively seeking other employment, your easy hires from a few months ago will be looking too. And you will be scrambling to catch up.
