The Job Market: December
I read the summary of the US job report yesterday with amusement. 90,000 plus jobs were created. Some think that is good; something think it is bad. One third of new jobs were created in the government (your US tax dollars at work); two thirds were created in the private sector.
The report is phony because it adds people who started small businesses and probably hired someone. That part is bogus because it is guess work based upon a model developed in 2003 that has not been tweaked since then to accommodate change.
The major change that I believe we are experiencing is that we are running out of skilled labor and the report doesn't reflect that.
You see the report is generally focused on large companies and large company needs; to the government, that is where "the good jobs are." This, despite the fact that most new jobs have been created by small business for more than a decade. Let me put that aside for a moment.
If you are looking for a job doing what you do at another company, you will have little trouble finding a job if your skills are up-to-date. If you are working on some "less current skills", even then you can find work if you are geographically flexible; if you only want to work where you live now, you will struggle because there is only a finite number of jobs there--open up your geography and you will find work.
If you are looking to change your career, like someone I know who is trying to move from a vendor technical role where he was involved with pre- and post-sales support to one involving just sales, you will struggle unless you are willing to accept a serious salary reduction.
Some of the newer technology classifications related to architecting solutions for clients are extremely hot but most so when someone is geographically mobile. Why? Because, you will create a solution for an organization once but they firms can hire you or even share you if you are mobile.
You see the new hot skill is mobility; it will help you boost your salary over those who are not . . . at a price, of course. Look at salaries in professional services--the salaries are higher because you are generating revenue while you globe trot vs, being an expense to a firm in industry.
On a different note, have you noticed the size of the losses announced in sub prime just between Merrill Lynch ($5.5 billion could go as high as $15 billion), Citigroup ($7 billion and rising), HSBC ($3.4 billion), Deutche ($3.3 billion), UBS ($3.4 billion) and what Deutsche Bank speculates could be between $300 and $400 billion dollars in losses.
When local government offers a rationale for building a new stadium or giving tax breaks for a convention, they speak of a multiplier effect. For each dollar spent, tat dollar creates $6 in new revenue and tax potential.
Now what happens when the reverse is true--we subtract $1.8 - $2.4 trillion from the world economy (I am of the opinion that the numbers offered by Deutsche will later to be found to be low because speculation like this usually is found to be low). Do you think it will have an effect?
You bet!
So, as you go into the holidays, do a little networking. Drop a card or make a call to a former boss just to say, "Hi!" Open up some doors again because hen that much money vanishes, we have to have some indigestion. Better to be prepared if you need to take action than not.
The report is phony because it adds people who started small businesses and probably hired someone. That part is bogus because it is guess work based upon a model developed in 2003 that has not been tweaked since then to accommodate change.
The major change that I believe we are experiencing is that we are running out of skilled labor and the report doesn't reflect that.
You see the report is generally focused on large companies and large company needs; to the government, that is where "the good jobs are." This, despite the fact that most new jobs have been created by small business for more than a decade. Let me put that aside for a moment.
If you are looking for a job doing what you do at another company, you will have little trouble finding a job if your skills are up-to-date. If you are working on some "less current skills", even then you can find work if you are geographically flexible; if you only want to work where you live now, you will struggle because there is only a finite number of jobs there--open up your geography and you will find work.
If you are looking to change your career, like someone I know who is trying to move from a vendor technical role where he was involved with pre- and post-sales support to one involving just sales, you will struggle unless you are willing to accept a serious salary reduction.
Some of the newer technology classifications related to architecting solutions for clients are extremely hot but most so when someone is geographically mobile. Why? Because, you will create a solution for an organization once but they firms can hire you or even share you if you are mobile.
You see the new hot skill is mobility; it will help you boost your salary over those who are not . . . at a price, of course. Look at salaries in professional services--the salaries are higher because you are generating revenue while you globe trot vs, being an expense to a firm in industry.
On a different note, have you noticed the size of the losses announced in sub prime just between Merrill Lynch ($5.5 billion could go as high as $15 billion), Citigroup ($7 billion and rising), HSBC ($3.4 billion), Deutche ($3.3 billion), UBS ($3.4 billion) and what Deutsche Bank speculates could be between $300 and $400 billion dollars in losses.
When local government offers a rationale for building a new stadium or giving tax breaks for a convention, they speak of a multiplier effect. For each dollar spent, tat dollar creates $6 in new revenue and tax potential.
Now what happens when the reverse is true--we subtract $1.8 - $2.4 trillion from the world economy (I am of the opinion that the numbers offered by Deutsche will later to be found to be low because speculation like this usually is found to be low). Do you think it will have an effect?
You bet!
So, as you go into the holidays, do a little networking. Drop a card or make a call to a former boss just to say, "Hi!" Open up some doors again because hen that much money vanishes, we have to have some indigestion. Better to be prepared if you need to take action than not.
Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com
© 2007 all rights reserved.
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.
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