6.13.2004A Little Breath of SpringWe've noticed that posting volumes on various job boards have gone up significantly in the last couple of weeks. This just might mean that there is a trend towards increased hiring that isn't a flash in the pan. Now, employers are still quite picky; you have to have all the right keywords in your resume. But what has happened is that they aren't taking as long to hire people for jobs because their current staff is stretched as far as they can be. They've worked these people to the point of pain, and now employers are faced with either losing these employees or adding staff. Also, people are starting to jump ship as conditions have improved. That creates opportunities, too. Many of these positions are still contract jobs, but that's OK - however we can get billable hours is just fine with us. It's not like any of us Fairies ever really believed in the concept of a "permanent" job anyway. The only difference between contract and permanent is that you get a layoff package when the permanent job ends... So if you were wondering if now is the right time - yes, it is. Employers haven't been hiring this much in years. Post your resume confidentially if you must, but don't get caught up in analysis paralysis - do it today!
Fairies on the Move
Congratulations to the Fairy of Utter Darkness - she has a new job! Way to go Nightshade! Congratulations to the Black Fairy who has just graduated high school and starts college this fall! Congratulations to the Leather Fairy, who has decided to go back to college! Keep up the good work, Green Fairy - you're almost done your degree - hang in there!
It's As if We're On Two Different Planets
We subscribe to various industry newsletters in order to stay current on hiring and human resources issues. One theme keeps recurring from publication to publication. It's all about the concerns over employee retention. Retention? Isn't this the era of mass layoffs and a buyer's market? Apparently not. Various human resources experts keep voicing their concern that employers are not going to be able to hang onto their best employees in the months and years to come. At first, you'd think this was cognitive dissonance. Really, in the era of ever-increasing outsourcing initiatives, who would think that expensive, U.S.-based employees would have any value to corporate America? But then we took a look at the problem from a demographic perspective. Between the boomer population, which is approaching retirement, and the Generation X population (the baby busters), there is a 35 million person difference. This was a real issue when us Gen X'ers first entered the workforce and found practically no place for us at the table. But now recruiters are starting to understand that the labor pool is rapidly getting shallow. This impending demographic change is the reason why JobFairy.com is ambivalent about jumping into the debate over outsourcing. On the one hand, a lot of people are losing their jobs and this is wreaking economic havoc in various parts of the country. On the other hand, we don't think that companies are going to be able to make up for a 35 million person shortfall in the labor pool no matter how much they outsource. Only certain kinds of work can be sent overseas - and those labor markets will need their own support infrastructure too. It's like sweeping dirt under the rug - the rug's not infinite; you'll only be able to get so much dirt under it before it shows. So now employers are concerned about retaining their employees. Well, we say they should never have treated their workforce as if they were disposable. Now that bond of trust has been broken, it can never be repaired. There's more to business decisions than just short-term gains...
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