This can be explained simply by three facts:
1. The number of y0unger people entering the work force with such skills has declined from previous years.
2. The number of organizations wulling to train people to improve their skills has declined
3. Immigration of skilled labor (or H-1b's) was cut from 225000 to 65000 six years ago. As a result, there are 960,000 fewer technology professionals in the US than had the program been left untouched.
I am not debating the merits of expanding the H-1b program today; I am of the opinion that fewer jobs would be off shored today, more tax payers in the US and more jobs in the US had we permitted their entry.
Today, that is not the point.
The point is that when you see someone that your firm wants to hire, your process must be streamlined to make the hire easier because talent is going to continue to be fought over.
Assuming your intention is not to outbid your competition by fast sums of money, your hiring process, including our onboarding process must be streamlined to insure that new hires continue to have "warm feelings" about joining you and are not afforded the time to lose them.
One firm I know has a hiring process that is fast (a week to 10 days for the interviewing to be concluded and for the person to be selected; however, once selected, there HR process including referencing & background checks often take 30 days.
And they wonder why they lose people to other firms.
Reference checking and background checks do not need to be a slow process and hiring gto get the talent that will allow your firm to compete in this market should not interfere with actually hiring.
Is there any part of your process that can be down more quickly?
Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com
© 2008 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 technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a practicing psychotherapist and is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues.
To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search job openings, use his free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe. to subscribe Jeff’s free job search ezines, Head Hunt Your Next Job and/or Natural Selection (his free recruiting ezine), or to find out about his VIP Personal Search Agent service, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com.
If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff or locating consultants, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at thebiggamehunter@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).
