Continued Hiring and Raises in Spite of Tight Labor Market

News reports say we’re in a tight labor market. In spite of that, hiring managers will not be firing workers. Instead, they will continue to hire and will offer salary increases. The logic — once you’ve got the good ones, why not do what’s necessary to keep them.

Isn’t it nice to be able to spout off all of that official sounding information? But who understands what it really means? Few, very few. So what is this “tight labor market” rhetoric? First, it isn’t rhetoric. It is a fact that annually, fewer people are prepared to step into the workforce and deliver the type of performance that is required as measuring up to “good work” or “quality performance” for the employer’s needs. What this means for those who are already employed is they have done what’s necessary to prove theirselves; they’re now in the desirable position of being able to ask for (and probably receive) a higher salary. They’ve shown that they have the right stuff to make it.

In doing research for this post, a Federal Reserve publication called The Beige Book was found. It looks at all parts of the economy across the country and examines the various pressures and dynamics that are happening to cause growth or contraction. You’ll want to add this to your industry and company research links tools so that you can learn more about what’s happening in your target industry. Then you can make your entrance with knowledge and insight. You may even want to spout a few of the statistics during the interview, just to show that you know what you’re talking about and would make phenomenal talent.

But let’s get to the nuts and bolts of what’s happening in the labor market. According to the Beige Book, the economy is tight. We don’t have enough well qualified, well educated, properly prepared workers coming into the market to offset those who are leaving for retirement. In fact, the labor market looks very much like it did in 1999.

The underlying message also includes the fact that it takes more to train the new worker than it did before. Adding to that is the slap-dash attitude that whatever it takes to get product out the door is okay; quality can be sacrificed. Indeed, pressures to deliver on time sometimes demand that the “little things” be let go for the sake of living up to the reliability factor. This, many times, is a very short-sighted attitude in consideration of the long-range possibilities of product failure and consequent consumer lawsuits for personal injury or death.

Ah, that legal background causes all manner of detours. Forgive me. Back to tight labor markets and the impact on hiring and raises. There will be less hiring but less than in the previous quarter. There is a reluctance to fire workers because firing tends to create gossip that makes people worry and reduce morale. Reduced morale means lower productivity while workers are checking out want ads in case they are one of those on the block. And lowered productivity means less work that gets delivered to the client — who pays the bills.

Sounds a bit like a Catch-22. It’s actually a fact of Life and part of the business life cycle.

If you’ve got a job, do whatever is necessary to keep it. If you just can’t sweat it out, hold on until you find something else that’s a better fit.

More importantly, this is a critical time to purposefully network.

Productivity and spending in nearly all sectors is up; one exception is residential mortgage origination and refinancing as well as construction. People are willling to spend. They desire product. The news is that wages are increasing.

An Uncomfortable Situation

“Going home shouldn’t HURT,” is what the sign on the bus read and it encouraged calling the domestic violence hotline for Los Angeles County if you’re experiencing abuse. There are a lot of lessons that can be taught about domestic violence and the multiple forms of abuse associated with it. There are even more lessons that accompany going to the various agencies that purport to work toward eradicating abuse and supporting those who are victims of it. To some extent, those lessons are for another day.

More importantly, going to work shouldn’t HURT. Theoretically speaking, the focus is on the work product as it should reach the customer. Quality output, timeliness, accuracy. Those are the primary issues. The pettiness of who is talking about whom, what the color of their skin or hair or gender may be are not part of the product unless this is a salon of some type. But when it comes down to making the numbers crunch, or getting the database to hold and find all of the correct inputs, it doesn’t really matter who did it just so that it did get done. That is not about hurting. That is about focusing on the job and working toward a common goal for the stakeholder.

Another important thing is who made the best [sales] in the last period. Fantastic! Let’s team up with that person in order to learn how they did this so that we can replicate their positive angles, so that we can put our own spin on their techniques in order to personalize to our style and appeal to our class of customers.

Going to work shouldn’t hurt because of venomous remarks, needless comments, barked logic that when stepped away from collapses into drivel. Going to work shouldn’t mean we grit our teeth against discovering some critical document is lost that was in the middle of the desk when we turned off the lights last night. Going to work shouldn’t mean enduring people who interrupt what we’re saying because they know more than us, what we’re saying isn’t important enough to hear, isn’t very interesting, is always wrong.

Going to work shouldn’t hurt because everyone else gets a lunch break but not us. Demeaning remarks shouted out in public before co-workers and clients should not be the normal environment. The integrity of our work should pass muster from the last time our hands were on it to its delivery.

Yes, there are means of dealing with these situations. Reporting them to the appropriate compliance officer is one way of handling them. But the compliance officer has myopia and doesn’t see the situations as plainly as we do. Nothing happens. Is there any way to kick this up the ladder? Maybe not. In that case, it’s time to go to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Examine the situation on an incident-by-incident basis. List each occurrence of something that is askew and the events surrounding it. Review the list. Look for a pattern. Who was present, in relation to other things, when did this occur? Note curious associations. Report these, especially if a pattern is recognized. Is there a time pattern or a cycle? Does this seem to happen to you only or are others similarly affected?

Are the reports you make going unheeded at every level? Then it’s time for you to take matters by the reins. Short of violence, do whatever is necessary to take care of yourself. Document when you have victories and get public acknowledgement of them whenever possible. Add them to your resume as accomplishments. Get endorsements on your networking profile. Make certain your profile is up to date. Circulate.

Do not be intimidated by the remarks when you speak up for yourself. Do not allow yourself to feel flustered and inadequate. Know your rules and ground work and adhere to it. Do not just stand up for yourself. Let people know when you’re asserting your rights. Phrase it so that the consequences reflect positively on you.

And while you’re at it, make certain you start researching where you will go next. While you’re at it, start interviewing for where you’ll go next.

Going to work nor going home should hurt.