WIth all due respect to TAFOCKAP (The Artist Formerly Or Currently Known As Prince). It feels like 1999 again.
Particularly in the IT Market.
Candidates are moving fast, getting picky and are getting shown the money. There is lots of movement in the Kansas City IT market and we/our clients are starting to feel the pinches.
Certainly there has some been some interesting news of late. Novastar is about to close their doors, we are hearing about some additional layoffs in the telecom world and some recent mergers in the financial services industries have forced some people to look. One would think this would flood the market with talent.
Au contraire mon frere...most people within these operations have a heads up that changes are coming and have bailed out already. Some local organizations are on aggressive growth plans, adding talent for BIG projects and looking to hire as many IT people as they can get their hands on to support organic growth, sucking up the talent as soon as it hits the street.
In addition, my funding and venture capital buddies are telling me there are a lot of startups that are looking to add people here and there in the coming year.
We have had to get more aggressive with our clients, consulting them on the realistic compensation demands of good IT talent.
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With every ring of the phone, the candidates price goes up as do their expectations/demands for perks (sign on bonuses, additional vacation time, flexible hours, etc.) Gone are the days of getting 4+ year .net talent for the low 80's. If you are seeking some specific skills that are a bit out of the mainstream, ready yourselves to pay for it. In fact, we are seeing a good number of people that are ready to ride the consulting roller coaster for awhile again, and they are expecting some pretty good Dollar/Hour rates. Contract to Hire is a good middle ground, but I do suggest you close, or ensure your recruiter has closed, your candidate on a hard target conversion salary. Trust me, the price will go up in the 90 days they are finding the bathrooms and pop machines.
Those companies who have had great success hanging on to their talent better get ready to ramp up their retention plans.
Treat your coders, analysts, pm's and testers well my friends. Stay close to them and make sure they are getting what they need from you. It is annual review time and you need to reward your performers.
In addition, they should be prepared for some sticker shock. They guy you hired two years ago for $80k will now cost you closer to $95k.
Decide who you want to get, and more importantly, do not want to lose and make sure you show them the love.
In this market, the love means one thing... "That's right...Dollar Signs" (thanks to Coach Mangino for the quote)
Doug Burris
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