So after 29 years in the career business I can honestly say, I have never seen pent-up demand for a job change higher than it is today. A side effect of our weak economy has been a strong reluctance by many employees to leave the security of their current organization for the risk and uncertainty of a new job. People fear that as the brand new employee, they would be first on the block to go if things slow down at their new place of employment. And second, if they start a new job and end up not liking their new role, the weak hiring market will make it much harder for them to find yet another position to go to. Thus many people continue to get up every morning and go to work in a job that they really dislike or are poorly suited to do. And many don’t see this paradigm changing anytime soon.
But once it does, WATCH OUT! Employers are going to be walking into their businesses and wonder “where did everybody go???” When the job market finally does loosen up your going to see the largest game of musical chairs ever played. Backfilling positions of people that have left will accelerate hiring demand on our labor force and eventually help the 17% of unemployed persons who have given up searching to return to the workforce.
But it may not be long before the song starts playing. According to a recent study by MetLife’s 9th Annual Study of Employee Benefits Trends. “Employee morale is at a 3 year low.” That low morale is ultimately going to cause people to say “I don’t care what the consequences are, I’m outa here!!!”
If I were an employer right now, I’d be paying close attention to keeping my employees happy. And maybe staffing up my recruiting department.
Tim Dugger 04-18-11
