You’d have to go pretty far back to see gas prices that low for a sustained period of time. But there was a time, after the dot-com bubble burst, around 2004 or so, when gas was low, stimulus money was flowing and unemployment was dropping. At that time, people were optimistic and hiring was pretty robust. Recruiting became a little harder - however, there seemed to be a willingness on both sides of the recruiting desk to create opportunities. Then, of course, came the Great Recession, but at the time, recruiting was working well for both companies and job seekers.
Our situation is a bit different now. Lower gas prices are fueling what we already knew after the Great Recession: People are ready, willing and now able to look for and move to a better job. And today, that puts many professionals in the driver’s seat with the tables turned in favor of the experienced, skilled job seekers (especially those already working).
One of the more unfortunate results of the recession was that many people fell out of the workforce. This left fewer experienced workers, especially in higher demand in many areas like IT, and now many of those workers have a bit of optimism about the future, thanks in part to lower gas prices.
With this in mind, here are three considerations for your current recruiting strategies:
So while things like cheap gas can be a good thing, just remember that although optimism is really hard to gauge, it doesn’t take much to make someone believe the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Especially if they are a half-decent, experienced java developer. Just make sure your recruiting strategies are in place when the exodus begins.
This blog was written by Matt Rivera. Matt serves as Vice President, Marketing and Communications and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Yoh’s marketing and brand communications. Matt holds a degree in Journalism/Public Relations and has been working in the staffing industry for more than 25 years. Prior to this role, Matt held many different roles from branch recruiting and proposal writing to technology management and online marketing.