It seems as though the word "Crisis" is popping up more frequently in all of our lives. The trailer on the news feeds read: "Terror Alert Elevated", the immigration issue is changing the face (and language) of the land, more people are restless about their jobs, and one can sense the uneasiness over issues of the economy, globalization, and politics.
All of the above affect organizations and workers. However, no one could have prepared us for the impending job crisis. Very subtly in the late 1990's the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a fundamental shift in the labor force. We shifted from having more people than jobs (which equates to a healthy bench strength) to an environment where we have more jobs than people.
A growing lack of workers is eroding the bench strength in America. The indicator for this is the current long cycle of single-digit unemployment. The effect, though not immediate, will be felt by 2010, when America will need over 10 million additional workers.
In their book: "Impending CRISIS, Too Many Jobs Too Few People." Herman, Olivo and Gioia additionally note that the worker shortage will also be accompanied by a growing skills-gap problem. Shifts in the types of jobs (such as growing Healthcare demands) create the need for more credentialing of workers. On-the-job training may not fill in the gaps and organizations need more postsecondary education, more academic qualifications or vocational certifications to be competitive and compliant.
Coupled with the increase in worker dissatisfaction, the talent shortage is truly a crisis to organizations needing talent. Companies that have not already aggressively attacked the issue are in grave danger of extinction.
The problem is serious, and the authors note it involves: "more than just finding enough people to fill our jobs. There is a dollars-and-cents issue. Most executives sense that employee turnover is expensive, but few comprehend the risk to their bottom line. Complicating the corporate predicament, especially for publicly traded companies, is the emerging inclination by financial analysts to pay more attention to workforce capability and stability. Uncomfortably high employee turnover can cause bond ratings to drop and stock prices to tumble, threatening capitalization." The authors further deduce — If corporate executives do not keep a watchful eye on workforce stability it, "... could drive seemingly stable companies out of business."
Impending CRISIS is a book that you should consume page by page. At Erler Associates [EA] we understand the delicate balance between the workforce, organizations and the "Wall Street" community.
To address the Growing Talent Shortage firms will need significant paradigm shifts in the way they ferret out talent. New models are emerging, new international competitive landscapes are evolving (China), and new laws are being enacted. It is incumbent upon U.S. organizations and the labor pool to find that middle ground and work quickly towards finding, securing and keeping the best talent and jobs.
The competitive landscape for talent will be felt at all levels: Private and Public sectors, Governmental, Military and not-for-profit organizations will feel the pinch. Educational institutions, trade and professional associations will also have to reinvent talent acquisition paradigms.
Your organization will need to seek out new thinking, programs and partners. EA is a next-generation talent acquisition firm that is sensitive to the issues and has a process to address the solutions.
In 1980, most job seekers were happy to have a job. After the decade of the 1980's, with its many cycles of mergers, acquisitions and downsizings (later changed to rightsizing to soften the blow), the worker mentality began to shift. People no longer looked for the gold watch for years of service (many did not survive long enough to receive it). Workers began to be concerned if they were next.
Continue Reading...It seems as though the word "Crisis" is popping up more frequently in all of our lives. The trailer on the news feeds read: "Terror Alert Elevated", the immigration issue is changing the face (and language) of the land, more people are restless about their jobs, and one can sense the uneasiness over issues of the economy, globalization, and politics.
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