| The Consumer Confidence Index is rising and surveys | | | | supply. To solve this dilemma, employers and |
| report optimism among business leaders despite | | | | governments must fund new training programs. The |
| gloomy labor statistics. Unemployment claims rose | | | | stimulus act, unfortunately, provided little funding to |
| only 365,000 in May and nearly 14 million people were | | | | retrain workers. So, in the mean time, employers will |
| unemployed. Projections are that unemployment will | | | | be forced to accept imperfect fits to fill vacancies, |
| peak at 15 million before the recession ends in early | | | | and the unemployed will have to accept lower pay to |
| 2010. Paradoxically, the labor report also said there | | | | start new careers that lead to grater success. |
| were roughly three million vacant jobs that employers | | | | These broad shifts in the economy arouse the |
| want to fill. Sounds like promising news - but it's not. | | | | dragons of change - the emotional resistance we feel |
| Instead, it indicates a basic shift in the economy and | | | | when we're forced to change. Change is the process |
| a widening gap between employer needs and worker | | | | of letting go of the old and embracing the new. The |
| skills. People who have lost jobs in shrinking industries | | | | chasm between the old and the new is a chaotic but |
| like manufacturing, construction, and retail generally | | | | creative period. We struggle to accept that the old is |
| lack the skills required for open positions in growing | | | | gone, but at the same time we're not sure what the |
| industries like health care, education, green | | | | new will be like. The uncertainty causes some to run |
| technologies, and government. At the same time, the | | | | away from risky new beginnings and cling to the slim |
| worst fall in 50 years in real estate values has frozen | | | | hope that things could be like they were. To stay on |
| unemployed workers in place - they can't afford to | | | | top in such times, you can't just react to changes. |
| sell their homes and move to where new jobs are | | | | You must anticipate changes, embrace the realities of |
| located. | | | | the changes you see, and use them to advance your |
| So far, the unemployed cling to a desperate hope | | | | success. |
| that things will return to "normal." It's hard to accept | | | | Today is the ideal time to hire talent that positions |
| that the old jobs aren't coming back, and it will take | | | | your organization for the economic rebound, but you |
| years to rebuild their savings. For example, many of | | | | may want to use alternative hiring techniques. For |
| the 27,000 people laid off when Chrysler entered | | | | example, hire future employees as part time |
| bankruptcy won't be rehired when it emerges. People | | | | consultants to minimize compensation costs and |
| in severely impacted states like Indiana and Michigan | | | | verify that they fit your organization. A second idea |
| are ignoring well-paying jobs in southern states that | | | | is to hire employees with deferred start dates and |
| are recovering because they are reluctant to move | | | | pay them a salary retainer. This technique is |
| and retrain themselves. Similarly, laid-off Wall Street | | | | particularly effective with new graduates. A third |
| workers are grappling with the stark reality that they | | | | possibility is hiring baby-boomers. Many of them have |
| must change their lifestyle and accept a job that | | | | long experience and are looking for part time work |
| pays less. It will probably take several years for the | | | | since their retirement funds have been affected by |
| realization to sink in that there is an entirely different | | | | the stock market crash and drop in real estate |
| "normal." | | | | values. Companies that put a hiring freeze in effect |
| Employers need to change their thinking as well, | | | | "until things turn around" run the risk of being forced |
| recognizing that the "perfect" candidate may not | | | | to hire leftovers with weaker qualifications than they |
| exist. Some jobs in emerging industries require skills | | | | would like. The skills reservoir is as full as it will ever |
| that salary, no matter how high, will not be sufficient | | | | be - now is the time to get the sweetest water! If |
| to attract enough qualified candidates until a new | | | | you're unemployed, now is the time to jump into a |
| generation of workers can be trained. For example, | | | | new pool - start a new career, possibly your own |
| the financial crisis has produced a demand for | | | | company. |
| accounting specialties that far exceeds the labor | | | | |