Doomsday Predictions

It’s mid October and I just read my first “here’s who will fail and who will succeed” prediction article by Joel Cheesman.  I expect we’ll see them from Wheeler, Sullivan etc. coming soon just like we always see the “HOT new companies” predictions each year.

How many are really right?  In my experience, not many.

Joel mentions the demise of Itzbig as being the indicator that many, not only companies (jobster) but classes of companies (eHarmonies), will fail in the current economy.  But two things bother me about his predictions;

  1. In the loser list, he mentions that recruiting budgets are being slashed yet #1 on his winners list is LInkedin, the most expensive corporate recruiting solution (paid solution - it’s still free to use it the headhunter way) on the market.  I heard that they are getting over $200K a year from Microsoft for the pleasure of using their solution so if budgets are getting cut, how does this one win?
  2. Joel mentions;

And when employers batten down the hatches of recruiting dollars, they stay with tried and true methods instead of straying outside of their comfort zones.

To me, this is criminal if true.  What’s tried and true is old and false.  Pulling your head into the shell, putting it into the sand and hoping that the economy comes back before the C-suite realizes that the recruiting department is still costing the company too much money is why Joel also quotes an industry leader as saying “Our industry is f***ed!

If Corporate Recruiting departments stop striving to be great in difficult times, if they completely reverse the momentum they’ve created in the last few years, if they stop reviewing new technologies and techniques that can help solve once and for all the problems that plague them - then I agree,

“Our industry is f***ed!”

October 15, 2008 | Filed Under Industry Commentary | 2 Comments