1) Candidates need to be careful that they don’t overplay their hand during salary negotiations now. It can be easy to play "hardball" now because there is a labor shortage. If you ask for too much, you could set yourself up for unrealistic performance expectations. You could also set yourself up for being the first person the CFO looks at when the economy slows; construction is cyclical.
2) Construction companies, pay attention to this: Attraction-Retention-Repeat. With the labor shortage we are currently experiencing, continue to be in “attraction” mode. There are lots of options out there for motivated candidates. Make sure your employees stay loyal to your company. What are you doing to make sure they stay? There are many cost-effective strategies to make your employees loyal to your company. Call us at Kimmel, we can help. Attraction-Retention-Repeat.
3) Developers are watching the Fed and interest rates more closely than ever now.
4) Recession Hangover: I think many candidates are still remembering the recession and are a little gun-shy in making a move at this point. They remember what it was like, and they don’t want to be the "last person in."
5) Here’s the main difference between the hot markets in 2007 and 2017: companies are being more selective about who they bring on board. Candidates are more risk-adverse than they were in 2007. I think candidates felt like there was more of a "safety net" in 2007, and I believe that companies are more selective now because they don’t want to have mass layoffs when this cycle ends.
6) I am seeing a disturbing trend that needs to be addressed. Bakers are putting too many chocolate chips in their chocolate chip cookies. It is a cookie that has chips in it, not a chocolate bar with dough around it. This trend is disrespectful to the cookie.
7) Statistically speaking, there are now more millennials on the planet than there are baby boomers.
8) Management is wasting their time, energy, and reputation rolling the dice on lowball offers. We are in a candidate-short market right now. If this is your strategy to save the company $5K, ask yourself this question before you make a lowball offer: "Would you leave your current position for a lower base salary?"
9) In general, employees in their 50’s and 60’s have different expectations and priorities than younger workers. Those in management need to accept this, and strategize their workforce around this new reality. See #7.
10) Candidates are now telling me, "I'm too busy to even think about making a career change." When is the right time to think about making a career change? When the market slows down? Opportunities do not always come at the most convenient time. Now is an excellent time to think about how you can capitalize on the current upswing of the market to grow your career.
