Job search 2010 -- small is in
We've just been through a brutal economic storm. If you were sheltered, great - good for you. But pay attention anyway, because this storm wreaked havoc on many of the people you'll meet in the next stages of your career. You are going to meet and work with a lot of people who've been burned. So many that the American business landscape is never going to look the same again.
At the height of the crisis, large companies fired thousands of employees to preserve profits. In many cases, they terminated good people to protect their stock prices (not to ensure survival). In so doing, they sent a powerful message - profits are sacred, people are disposable. It's not the first time this has happened for sure, but this time, the firings were connected to a crisis technical in nature, unrelated to business fundamentals, and connected with greed and corruption. Average Americans can see more clearly than ever how protected the rich and powerful are at the expense of everyone else. We feel helpless, unappreciated and disrespected.
First the bankers and other business elite got rich during the real estate boom years, then they were bailed out by very taxpayers who were left twisting in the wind by all the financial monkey business of the last five years. At the same time that the taxpayers were doing the bailing, massive layoffs were happening around the country -- at profitable companies. I call that a lack of character and I assure you that talented people notice it.
They are going to notice the US national debt too, now over $110,000 per taxpayer. That bill will come due but we know it's not going to hurt our captains of industry much. As Ted Turner says, losing 80% of your wealth overnight is hard, but a guy can still get by when there are a few billion leftover. The images of the Goldman Sachs 20 billion dollar bonuses coming in December just a few short quarters after the bailouts will be seared into the minds of those who've suffered in this recession.
So what will change? Working for a large company will never have the same shine again. Working as a contractor or an entrepreneur will never look so risky again either. As an entrepreneur you know what the risks are -- you can see them, understand them and manage them. Not true when you work for a corporate giant.
There's more. Over the past couple of years, the dark side of big corporate America is coming to light in documentaries like Food Inc and Sicko. Before YouTube, these films could have very little impact, but today things are different. And we don't need YouTube or comedians to know how outsourcing and automation has affected customer service, you just pick up your phone, navigate the prompts and talk to someone who doesn't speak English and can't or won't help you. All these things, are driving talented Americans away from big companies and the politicians that protect them.
Big companies have lost a lot of control over their brands too over the past couple of years. Self-inflicted damage to their brands is at all-time highs. Today we are cynical and we want better from our companies and our government. These are not good vibes for your next interview whether you are the interviewer or the interviewee. Nevertheless, this is our experience. This is what we have lived through and sweeping it under the rug will only encourage train wrecks.
When the economy comes back, when we actually have a choice again about where we work, that choice is going to take on a new importance, more central to our lives. Americans are going to choose more consciously where and how to work -- and small is in. The talent the big brands need has powerful new reasons to prefer working elsewhere. We are going to be choosing small companies, small vendors and small contractors like never before. In the next boom, the real war for talent will kick off and it will be between big and small.
At the height of the crisis, large companies fired thousands of employees to preserve profits. In many cases, they terminated good people to protect their stock prices (not to ensure survival). In so doing, they sent a powerful message - profits are sacred, people are disposable. It's not the first time this has happened for sure, but this time, the firings were connected to a crisis technical in nature, unrelated to business fundamentals, and connected with greed and corruption. Average Americans can see more clearly than ever how protected the rich and powerful are at the expense of everyone else. We feel helpless, unappreciated and disrespected.
First the bankers and other business elite got rich during the real estate boom years, then they were bailed out by very taxpayers who were left twisting in the wind by all the financial monkey business of the last five years. At the same time that the taxpayers were doing the bailing, massive layoffs were happening around the country -- at profitable companies. I call that a lack of character and I assure you that talented people notice it.
They are going to notice the US national debt too, now over $110,000 per taxpayer. That bill will come due but we know it's not going to hurt our captains of industry much. As Ted Turner says, losing 80% of your wealth overnight is hard, but a guy can still get by when there are a few billion leftover. The images of the Goldman Sachs 20 billion dollar bonuses coming in December just a few short quarters after the bailouts will be seared into the minds of those who've suffered in this recession.
So what will change? Working for a large company will never have the same shine again. Working as a contractor or an entrepreneur will never look so risky again either. As an entrepreneur you know what the risks are -- you can see them, understand them and manage them. Not true when you work for a corporate giant.
There's more. Over the past couple of years, the dark side of big corporate America is coming to light in documentaries like Food Inc and Sicko. Before YouTube, these films could have very little impact, but today things are different. And we don't need YouTube or comedians to know how outsourcing and automation has affected customer service, you just pick up your phone, navigate the prompts and talk to someone who doesn't speak English and can't or won't help you. All these things, are driving talented Americans away from big companies and the politicians that protect them.
Big companies have lost a lot of control over their brands too over the past couple of years. Self-inflicted damage to their brands is at all-time highs. Today we are cynical and we want better from our companies and our government. These are not good vibes for your next interview whether you are the interviewer or the interviewee. Nevertheless, this is our experience. This is what we have lived through and sweeping it under the rug will only encourage train wrecks.
When the economy comes back, when we actually have a choice again about where we work, that choice is going to take on a new importance, more central to our lives. Americans are going to choose more consciously where and how to work -- and small is in. The talent the big brands need has powerful new reasons to prefer working elsewhere. We are going to be choosing small companies, small vendors and small contractors like never before. In the next boom, the real war for talent will kick off and it will be between big and small.
Tags: job search trends
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