Comments on: The Economic Downturn Means That Hiring Freezes Will Soon Decimate Recruiting

By: Recruit Against the Tide « Garis Pang

Recruit Against the Tide « Garis Pang — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:44:01 +0000

[...] marketing strategy to attract this expanded talent pool. Dr. John Sullivan talks about The Economic Downturn saying “Any review of history will reveal that the majority of wealth in modern civilizations is [...]

By: Business 2009 - Times They Are A Changin’ | Optimized Strategies

Business 2009 - Times They Are A Changin’ | Optimized Strategies — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:16:26 +0000

[...] “Any review of history will reveal that the majority of wealth in modern civilizations is more often than not created during times of significant economic crisis. Opportunities abound for those organizations that are truly strategic…” Dr. John Sullivan The Economic Downturn [...]

By: josie erent

josie erent — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:48:18 +0000

I had a discussion with a talented Marketing professional regarding a well known U.S company where executives are paid millions of dollars in compensation…..The reality is that there is nothing novel or creative about laying off great people when a lot of these companies are run by average overpaid senior executives…..Moral could not be worse…..Executive entitlement to huge salaries is killing productivity in the United States…and yes corporate performers will change jobs….for more money….after all their salaries have not risen in the last 5 years…whereas senior executive pays seem to be raising despite the poor economy….POOR CORPORATE LEADERSHIP IS CREATING HIGH TURNOVER….poor corporate morale…

By: Recruit Against the Tide | Attracting Talent | interactive recruitment marketing

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:38:38 +0000

By: Out-of-Work Sourcers : ERE.net

Out-of-Work Sourcers : ERE.net — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:38:46 +0000

[...] Dr. John Sullivan pointed out in his October, freezes lead to “a majority” of internal recruiters being laid off and [...]

By: HRM Today - Blog Archive » Investing in Employees When There Isn’t Much to Invest

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:26:55 +0000

[...] seeing this list is disappointing, given what we know about the negative impact of hiring freezes and layoffs. But as we see more and more companies take such measures in the face of economic [...]

By: HRM Today - Blog Archive » 5 Reasons to Give Thanks: New Technology for Easier-Than-Ever Recruiting

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:45:06 +0000

[...] are shifting, regardless of the state of our economy (btw, Sullivan later addresses the topic here), but because the economy is what it is, it’s that much more necessary for companies to shift [...]

By: Hiring Freeze!!! Must be Mr Freeze! at CITI Recruitment Blog

Hiring Freeze!!! Must be Mr Freeze! at CITI Recruitment Blog — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 04:30:14 +0000

[...] http://www.ere.net/2008/10/13/the-economic-downturn-means-that-hiring-freezes-will-soon-decimate-rec... [...]

By: Rebecca Sargeant

Rebecca Sargeant — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:31:46 +0000

Hurray for commonsense !

By: Bryan StLaurent

Bryan StLaurent — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 02:03:26 +0000

John,

So aptly said. I didn’t even have to ready the whole thing (yet). Unfortunately, CEO’s and CFO’s don’t read here, and this is not posted at the appropriate site for them to be forced to read it.

I’m already encountering virtual shutdowns of the recruiting function everywhere, hiring freezes for at least 6 months, and it’s just so stupid.

When does HR retool for the next business cycle? They are too buzy on the ‘uptick’ to look at retooling there processes as they are so buried in their work they are like a turtle in a lake with just the point of their nose above water.

OK, since you can’t do it when you’re busy, do it when things slow down. Now you’ve got time to analyse data, see what’s new in the market, and suggest the changes, but no…we’re shut down…Will the last person in Talent Acquistion please turn out the lights on the way out…

To make a stock market analogy, there is this famous quote, “The time to buy is when blood is running in the streets,” financier Baron Rothschild is said to have remarked during the Paris panic of 1871.”

But HR doesn’t do this. HR prefers to buy high and sell low. Always a losing strategy.

Best….

Bryan St.Laurent
HireVue.com

By: Keith Halperin

Keith Halperin — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:54:49 +0000

A very thoughtful, comprehensive article. About a decade ago, my then-client wanted to avoid the appearance of a hiring freeze for many of the reasons listed. It accomplished this by deliberately increasing the complexity of the hiring process- the joke was that an additional signature was required for each week that passed. This slowed hiring to a crawl, but it truthfully could be said that there was no hiring freeze; just as the author mentioned.

An additional step that companies might wish to undertake would be to analyze all recruiting functions currently performed, maximize the high-touch, high value-add functions performed by the internal staff, and outsource the others. This would also be a means of reducing expenses and retaining core-recruiting staff while not overloading them with vastly increased work.

Cheers,

Keith Halperin

By: HRM Today - Blog Archive » Unintentional Results of Implementing a Hiring Freeze

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:29:23 +0000

[...] bad for a business seems a little self-serving. In the article, Dr. Sullivan discusses how The Economic Downturn Means That Hiring Freezes Will Soon Decimate Recruiting. Read [...]

By: Stuart Gray

Stuart Gray — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:34:37 +0000

You can provide many reasons for avoiding a hiring freeze. Simply put, the #1 reason is “Best Companies” do not implement hiring freezes. Best Companies attract and retain the best people and are continuously upgrading the talent pool of their workforce. If you are not a Best Company, I suggest you read Jack Welch’s book titled “Winning” and follow his 20-70-10 rule for better ways to manage the workforce.

By: Ken Horst

Ken Horst — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:03:25 +0000

Great post! I agree that now is a great time for companies to be building their passive candidate database. In poor econmic times like these, there is a lot of top talent looking as result of layoffs, pending layoffs or a belief that there company will be the next one to announce a layoff.