As I sit here I am wondering…Are you serious?!?  Is this for real?!?!  Just when I thought the Dow Jones was heading in the right direction, consumer confidence was getting better, the unemployment rate was dropping, homes are selling, companies are hiring (this is a big one!), we as a country get news that our allies overseas are in economic trouble.

And what happens?!?!

 The market has one of the biggest one day drops in history.  Sell Sell Sell!  “OH MY GOSH THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END” think many investors.  We are spending BILLIONS of dollars to fix the US and these countries, in my opinion, are looking at us to bail them out too.  Can you say “MORE billions”?!?  We had to change the way we are structuring this economy and our allies overseas need to do the same. 

Soon I hope we, as a planet, can get ourselves back to where we were just a few short years ago.  But I know these things take time and that Rome was not built in a day.  I anxiously await.

How can you stop sourcing in the HR world? Or researching? Or name generating? Or pipeline building? How can you say you never need to look for people or that you have enough? OK, I’m done let’s close shop? Not happening in my world!  

I love the JIT Sourcing concept from Glen Cathey (you’re my latest hot thing BTW Glen <smiles> ) and am all over the lean concepts which help you maintain that fine balance between efficiency and effectiveness (two different things in case you don’t get it) but in my holistic approach to HR, whether it is for a new company preparing to explode with good talent, a third party recruiter working a search assignment for an external client or just a really well established, been-around-for-ages firm, doing what they do best everyday; the “quest” for finding talent never really ends. Unless of course you get hit with a Recession BAM! like we did last year (the economy is still climbing out of the ditch mind you). But even in the deepest depths of a horrible last year, smart recruiters and sourcers kept going.  Even when working a search, the best recruiters know the search is not done till it is done and so the sourcing for fresh meat continues (my apologies Vegans – you can read that as fodder or grass).

Knowing where to go to get good talent is like having that quintessential little black dress in your closet. OK dudes, a suit and god forbid I ever get into a little black dress! The knowledge that it’s always there no matter what and that you can use it in any kind of emergency, formal or informal, is priceless! Keep looking, happy sourcing.

 In my last BLOG, I talked about the Recession and “is it over?!?”.  Well, the consensus from all the experts seems to be “YES!”.  Does this mean hiring is next?  I do not know about you, but I am tired of all of the monkeying around and I am ready to be so busy that I will not be able to take a break to even peel a banana.  Ok, maybe not THAT busy but I think you get the picture. 

The answer to “Is Hiring Next” is mostly positive with feedback showing hiring in the next quarter. Many economists, corporate leaders, and others supposedly “in the know” seem mostly upbeat about a recovering economy. Also, many executive recruiters are advising employers to “start getting ready to start hiring.”  HIP HIP HOORAY!!!!  I go ape over news like this! Here is some of what I have read condensed to be easy on the eyes, short and to the point:

• Workforce Management magazine (http://www.workforce.com/) recently reported that “Recruitment process outsourcing providers are seeing an increase in interest from employers…now realizing the need to start hiring again in the next few months.”

• The smartbrief.com survey asked this question: “…when would you expect to restore more normal investment in business, including inventory, staffing, expense budgets and capital projects?” More than 1,000 respondents recorded with these results: 44 percent expect to restore more normal investment in the first half of 2010… 29 percent in the second half of 2010… 12 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010… and 10 percent in 2011 or later. Only 5 percent expect to restore more normal investment in business in the current quarter.

• Recently, CNNMoney.com reported the Leading Economic Index (from the Conference Board) “for a fourth straight month, another sign that the recession is bottoming…”  The report quoted Ken Goldstein, economist at The Conference Board, as saying, “The indicators suggest that the recession is bottoming out, and that economic activity will likely begin recovering soon.”

• Recent survey results released by CareerBuilder.com and Robert Half International, Inc., found that 53 percent of employers surveyed plan to hire full-time employees in the next 12 months. Another 40 percent plan to hire contract, temporary or project professionals in the next 12 months. Survey results came from 500 hiring managers. The respondents reported the average time to recruit a new full-time employee was ranged from 4.5 to 14.4 weeks.

In summary, yes, hiring seems to be next; it’s music to my ears.  We just need to get these companies to buy into it and get that consumer confidence up and through the roof.  No more monkeying around…it is time to get down to business! Let the hiring begin!

I am sure we have all heard variations of this story, legend, chain emails -  call it what you like. The author is unknown and Snopes makes several references to this story from its association with Royals to our fair neighbor Canada. It is a great tale of heart warming anticipation where you hold on to your fork because pie/dessert is coming next and therefore the best is yet to come.

Nice story and all and some may wipe a tear but what the heck does this have to do with you and me, all the unemployed people who have been despairing over the past months and the entire staffing/recruiting/HR bandwagon that has been hurtling downhill all year? You see, I’m the eternal optimist when it comes to new ways of doing things – Web 2.0, automation, spider technology,  semantic, Boolean, 3G, 4G, Artificial Intelligence  – better, smarter, faster, interactive, more intuitive, streamlined, and the fact that mankind is always improving on things.

Don’t get me wrong, there are days/times when I am down. But in spite of the fact that Nearly 16M People Can’t Find Jobs Amid Claims Recession Is Over  or the fact that U.S. Unemployment Rate Hits 10.2%, Highest in 26 Years I have eternal hope.

I and all my tribe are cheering for a quick end to the bad times. OK so shoot me,<gobble, gobble> but if we all don’t think that the only way out of this is up, we’re all toast, man. It is just a question of time.  Because in the midst of the doom & gloom all we need is more good news like Bay Area Tech Company Needs to Hire 200 Recruiters & Sourcers, One Year Contract .

A past Executive Admin once said to me, “The Universe, my dear, has a way of balancing it all out” as I pulled my hair out on a frightfully annoying, ongoing, “client kept changing the specs” search.  A lot of truth in that as I eventually found out.  So let’s celebrate Thanksgiving (I sure hope the more fortunate, still employed among us will invite at least one unemployed family to share the meal) and be “THANKFUL” for what has been and for what we have enjoyed (granted it’s been a while when the unemployment paycheck has been coming for months). 

The next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you ever so gently, that the best is yet to come. Count your blessings and here’s to better times for all.  

Happy Thanksgiving y’all!

This time last year, the kids were back in school and we were riding that staffing wave and “hanging 10” (insert Hawaii Five-O music here).  Soon after, recruiters were left simply “hanging” and some felt like “hanging” themselves (though I do not know of any that actually did thank goodness).  My fellow recruiters started losing their jobs and we knew we were all in trouble.  And now, Ben Bernanke, current Federal Reserve Chairman thinks that one of the worst economic downturns in American history IS OVER (insert happy music here like “Celebration” by Kool & The Gang ).   Every publication and media outlet seems to point that way i.e. The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, FOX News…you name it.  The problems in the subprime market seem contained, consumer confidence is restoring, homes are selling, HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN!!!!!  BUT, BE AWARE that Bernanke also did not detail any significant changes in the immediate future.  Yes we are improving, but not at a rapid pace.  If you ask me, go ahead…ask me…ok, thanks for asking, a full recovery cannot come quick enough.  Bernanke’s Fed, meanwhile, has been giving pretty clear, yes “crystal clear” (thanks Jack and Tom) signals over the past couple of months that it thinks the recession is ending but the recovery will be sssssllloooowwww and weak.  At my firm we support both Corporations and Executive Search and both are showing an uptick in activity, not a rapid uptick, but an uptick nonetheless.  I’ll take that.  Clients that we have not heard from in a while are opening searches and we continue to see activity in the areas of Defense, Energy, Healthcare and Education.  Even new clients are coming out of the woodworks from these areas.  I just look forward to the days when retail, financial services and construction are strong again and I will feel whole again.  Meanwhile, I will continue to satisfy my clients, exceed expectations, watch Wall Street recover and dream about the day when all of my fellow recruiters are back to work and that time should be soon…I hope. ARE YOU READY FOR THE WAVE ?!?!?