This Weird Job Market
Lance Haun
Focused on people, work, and tech and consulting with top work tech companies at the intersection of it all at TSC
Make It Make Sense
Can we be honest for a second? Good.?
This job market is a mess.?
It's like a bizarre playground game where the rules keep changing, and no one knows how to play anymore. And just like the playground, there is a lot of finger-pointing.?
The facts of the situation don’t lie, though. Unemployment is near historic lows. Companies have thousands of open jobs. Yet, in spite of all of this, good people are still struggling to find decent jobs and they feel powerless when they should be feeling empowered.?
What gives?
This is the talent paradox, and it's been messing with our heads for far too long. I explored this very topic in a recent article for Reworked , and the more I dug in, the more I realized just how deep this rabbit hole goes.?
If you want the long and short of it, it really comes down to being stuck in a cycle of mismatched expectations and anxieties. Companies are hunting for mythical creatures with the perfect blend of skills and experience, clinging to outdated job requirements like a life raft. Meanwhile, workers are terrified of becoming obsolete in the age of AI, hesitant to jump ship even if their current gig is less than ideal.
We also can’t forget the lingering hangover from the pandemic. It forced many of us to re-evaluate our priorities, leading to a wave of resignations and a renewed focus on work-life balance. The problem is, many companies haven't quite caught up to this new reality.?
But perhaps the biggest culprit of all is the erosion of employee trust. Years of layoffs, stagnant wages, and a general feeling of being undervalued have left workers feeling cynical and disillusioned. Why should they believe the promises of a "better" opportunity when they've been burned so many times before??
So, where do we go from here??
The truth is, there's no easy answer. The talent paradox is a tangled mess of interconnected issues, and it's going to take a collective effort to untangle it (and no, just throwing AI at it won’t help).?
But here's the thing: we also can't afford to ignore it. The future of work depends on our ability to bridge the gap between employer needs and worker expectations. It's time to ditch the outdated playbooks, embrace new strategies, and start building a job market that actually makes sense.
The Feds Make Classic WFM Blunders
It's not just the regular job market that's gone haywire.??
Things are going off the rails in the federal government too, and it's a masterclass in how not to manage your workforce. Forget quiet quitting and firing. This is more like a speedrun of every bad management practice from the last few decades.
We're talking indiscriminate "last in, first out" firings, voluntary buyouts that give your best people an easy out, and across-the-board budget cuts that lack any kind of nuance. It's like someone dusted off the worst Jack Welch practices, applied them across a gigantic, complex workforce, and decided to use it as a how-to guide for ruining your prospects of a productive government.?
And the kicker? They're already having to go back and rehire some of the people they fired because they pulled the trigger too quickly. That’ll continue as new issues pop up.?
Accidents? Probably not. This chaos seems to be the intent.
And look, you can agree with the tenets of increasing government efficiency and still think what’s happening at the federal level is a tire fire. If we really were committed to running the government like a business, the people responsible for running this WFM playbook over the last month would’ve been fired.?
The real takeaway here for any leader is simple: don’t do this. When you treat your employees like disposable cogs in a machine (or, in this case, as political fodder), you create a culture of fear and distrust. People disengage, innovation stalls, and your best talent heads for the exit.
Do we want bright minds and great talent making the mechanizations of a reduced-sized federal government work or is this all just a cynical attempt to lop off enough people that it becomes easier to privatize??
I think I know the answer.
QUICK HITS FROM AROUND THE WEB
DEI Is More Popular Than Congress
The American people have spoken: DEI initiatives are more popular than either political party in Congress.??
As Boing Boing covered, a recent Quinnipiac poll revealed that DEI boasts a 53% approval rating, while Congressional Democrats and Republicans languish at a dismal 21% and 40% respectively. DEI is also more popular than President Trump, whose latest job approval rating came in at 45%.
While Washington seems intent on manufacturing outrage and division, it seems like the core tenets of diversity, equity, and inclusion are more popular. Maybe companies intent on pausing or abandoning DEI efforts will take not as well.
That's it for this week!
Recovering VP of Sales turned Recruiter
1 周Well said as always Lance. The problem (IMO) as always, is fear. Employers have been told quite clearly that profitable growth is the only way forward, and the days of getting a huge raise just based on top line growth are over. This means turnover matters, and instead of investing in effectively developing people, many are turning to the path you mentioned-- trying to find "that perfect person". Long search processes frustrate candidates and leave spots open longer, which perpetuates the process. Ok, rant over. Good post. ??
Helping employers mitigate the risk of workplace misconduct
1 周Strong use of a Back to the Future Part II GIF. 10/10. No notes.
Employment Attorney, Writer, HR Tech, Law Professor Author, Get Pay Right: How to Achieve Pay Equity that Works
1 周Great analysis. We have to start where we are and with what we can control. For employers, that means really looking at your needs and expectations realistically. But I sense a lot of companies are in a holding pattern to see what happens politically and what the economic fallout will be. Nobody can really predict that because we don't have the full picture and we've never dealt with what's happening before.