TECH COMPANIES GOING ALL OUT TO RECRUIT TALENT:

08/03/11 (SF Chronicle)
Tech companies going all out to recruit talent Rachael King, Bloomberg Businessweek

Michael De Frenza scans the crowd of 50 or so well-dressed professionals mingling near a bar at the W Hotel in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood. De Frenza, a recent transplant to the Bay Area, is here looking not for a date, but for a job. Yet he’s far from desperate.

In five weeks, De Frenza, 34, has received five offers. “I’m taking my time trying to find the right fit,” he says. I Love Rewards, which provides companies with services to motivate employees, arranges cocktail parties like this one every other week at the W Hotel to help recruit 40 people by Sept. 30 for a new West Coast sales office.
“Just in time for us arriving in San Francisco, the market has gotten extremely hot,” says CEO Razor Suleman. “San Francisco is coming back to the days when candidates have two or three job offers,” he says.

Competition for cloud computing engineers, security experts and mobile developers as well as sales professionals in the technology industry has gotten so fierce in the past six months that companies are going to greater lengths to woo prospective employees. They’re throwing lavish parties, handing out free food at conferences, doling out $50,000 signing bonuses, and offering perks such as free haircuts and medical care at the office. Nearly full employment

The tech sector is fueling a job boom that stands in stark contrast to the malaise of the general job market. The nationwide unemployment rate ticked up to 9.2 percent in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the same time, the unemployment rate for tech professionals dropped to 3.3 percent, from 5.3 percent in January. “That’s pretty close to full employment,” says Alice Hill, managing director of technology career website Dice.com.

“It’s such a thin market, it feels like everybody is employed already,”
says Adam Pisoni, co-founder and chief technology officer of Yammer, which sells software and services for social networking in the workplace.
“Engineers have 10 recruiters calling them.”
The San Francisco company would like to hire between 50 and 100 engineers this year, Pisoni says.

Companies are employing a variety of strategies to attract talent. Saba Software and Digital River recently paid C-level executives $50,000 signing bonuses. “While signing bonuses at tech companies are not uncommon, their use has become more prevalent recently as the economy has improved and competition for talent has heated up,” says Aaron Lapat, managing director of the technology practice at executive recruiting firm J. Robert Scott. Back to the boom times

Recruiting tactics from the late 1990s are starting to make a comeback, too.
In 1998, when Mark Barrenechea worked for Oracle, he hired an ice cream truck and parked it outside of then-competitor Siebel Systems. At the time, he was a senior vice president for applications development trying to find engineering talent. The bells and music would signal employees to come outside, he says.
In his current role as CEO of supercomputer maker Silicon Graphics International, Barrenechea uses a different tactic. “We haven’t had to resort to ice cream trucks and cocktail parties,” he says. Instead, SGI is going after employee referrals and targeting companies where there’s organizational change.

The CEO says the company has found supercomputing talent at Oracle’s Sun Microsystems and may find technical sales talent from Cisco’s upcoming layoffs. SGI plans to expand its sales force 10 percent this year, adding about 25 positions. Suleman at I Love Rewards also encourages employees to refer job candidates.
He’s offering a luxury trip to Las Vegas in September for any employee who refers a new hire. Even though each employee will stay in a suite, Suleman says it’s 80 percent less expensive than using a recruiter.

As companies compete for a limited talent pool, they’re upping the ante.
“There’s so much poaching going on, and now we see the rise of the crazy perks,” says Hill at Dice.com. Hill says she’s seeing companies offer a range of services, from car washes and free haircuts to on-site doctors, dentists and notaries. “Qualcomm has a weekly farmers’ market,” Hill says.

No doubt these developments are a welcome change for workers after the recession. For companies, though, this means an increase in labor costs as salaries rise and businesses try to retain workers with perks and retention bonuses. It may also force companies to grant richer stock option awards to attract the right programming talent, according to a Fitch Ratings report released last month. Stock awards up. The percentage that stock-based compensation makes up of total operating expenses can serve as a proxy for technology labor market tightness, says Jamie Rizzo, an analyst at Fitch Ratings. At Adobe, options and other stock awards accounted for 8.6 percent of total operating expenses in 2010, up from 7 percent in 2007. Intuit saw that number increase to 5.7 percent in 2010, from 4 percent in 2007.

The rush to find workers is symptomatic of a deeper problem in the tech industry. The supply and demand of talent is out of sync, says Professor Peter Cappelli at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Companies are looking for exactly the skills they need today to deal with their clients. “We don’t want to have to train anybody, and when those skills become obsolete, we don’t want to retrain them,” he says. Companies tend to hire people with IT engineering degrees, use those skills for five years, and then they want a new crop, says Cappelli, who researches human resource practices and talent management. “It means they are hiring and laying off at the same time,” Cappelli says.
“It’s a really bad thing for the economy and for the companies themselves, because it’s putting them at the mercy of the labor market.” ———————————————————————-
Copyright 2011 SF Chronicle
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Vergrijzing en krapte op de arbeidsmarkt

25 juli 2011

Het thema krapte op de arbeidsmarkt keert in snel tempo terug op de agenda’s van overheid, ondernemers en onderwijs. Op landelijk niveau, maar ook regionaal en lokaal. In branches en sectoren, maar ook bij afzonderlijke bedrijven. Vergrijzing kan daarbij een rol spelen, maar is niet de enige mogelijke oorzaak voor het ontstaan van kraptes op de arbeidsmarkt.

Het is wel een factor die belangrijker wordt, die nauwelijks te beïnvloeden is en die (mede daardoor) in hoge mate voorspelbaar is. Bovendien werkt vergrijzing door in alle regio’s en in alle sectoren, op korte en op langere termijn. Vergrijzing op de arbeidsmarkt stopt niet bij de uittocht van de babyboomers. Redenen genoeg om hier speciaal aandacht te besteden aan de vergrijzing.

Download het hele rapport (6 pagina’s)
Bron: Werk.nl | Themanummer ‘Vergrijzing en krapte op de arbeidsmarkt’, mei 2011 | Redactie: Roland Keiren, Jeroen van den Berg.

De generatie C gaat de wereld ingrijpend veranderen.

In de komende tien jaar zal er een nieuwe generatie op de arbeidsmarkt komen: de zogenaamde Generatie C. Geboren na 1990 beginnen zij nu met een studie of hun eerste baan. De wereld zoals we die kennen gaat verdwijnen. Deze Generatie C gebruikt informatie en communicatie technologieën die een grootschalige verandering in gang zullen zetten in hoe mensen met elkaar om gaan, de wijze waarop er gewerkt wordt en hoe passies worden beleefd. 

Download hier het rapport The Rise of the Generation C, Implications for the World of 2020

After finishing graduate school this past summer, I was fortunate to stumble upon a great job with a commercial furniture manufacturer. After packing up my apartment and moving three hours away I found myself smack dab in the middle of the real world, in a position typically reserved for someone a generation or two my senior. Like all of us, I was chomping at the bit to show my skills, prove myself to the organization and most of all flex my “Gen Y” muscles.  As it turns out, my company is 92 years old, headquartered in a tiny rural town, and still full of 60+ year old senior management (and even older board members!) My attitude, confidence, and affinity for anything digital must remind my co-workers of their children or grandchildren, who are likely “spoiled, inexperienced, poor communicators, and spend too much time on that damn Facebook.”

After eight months on the job, I’ve learned a lot about what it takes to win over your older superiors, and I continue to work at it every day. Talented Gen Y’s should be desired by today’s employers, not shunned or feared because of generational differences.  I believe my experiences will help you shine your Gen Y light in a dark sea of aging Boomer bosses and let you debunk many of their misconceptions about us…

Professionalism

After landing your job, the first obvious hurdle you must overcome in the eyes of management is your lack of experience.  Because most of us actually do lack experience, we must remember to maintain an air of professionalism in everything we do.

• Dress a little nicer than you have to
• Keep your hair cut and face shaved (if applicable, of course).
• Always show up on time
• Keep your smartphone in your pocket during those long meetings, even if you are only checking work email.

These are the little things that our generation luckily doesn’t get too hung up on, and as a result I was a bit naive about their importance to our older peers. Ten years from now these things may not matter, but for now I’ve discovered that if you want to win over the old pros, you have to act like an old pro. Emphasis on old.

(One moment while I remove my tie and put on my hat at this airport bar.)

Communication

The next preconceived notion about us, which all too often holds true, is that we are bad communicators. How can this be? We invented Facebook.  And twitter.  And texting.  Exactly. While our digital communication skills are virtually flawless, many of us struggle with interpersonal, face to face communication. Our increase in digital communication has taken its toll by decreasing our amount of face to face and telephone communication.  While this is one of Gen Y’s worst attributes, the big winners will be those of us who can master both digital and interpersonal communication.

• Speak up in those big meetings to become comfortable speaking in front of groups.
• Talk to random people in the airport, or engage conversation with random co-workers.
• Get in the habit of calling people rather than text or email, when appropriate.

All of these things will help build confidence and keep you from having a reputation of being unapproachable.

(Excuse me while I send a few texts, check my Twitter and email my mother.)

Technology

Finally, something everyone knows we do well!  Technology is the one area where the younger generation will always dominate, and I’m not looking forward to the next generation taking that crown from us.  But for now, your technology expertise can help you stand out and win over your boss. That is, if you approach it the right way.  First you must ask yourself “what do employers our parents’ age fear about technology?” They fear people knowing too much about their personal lives via Facebook, they fear not understanding all the ”weird slang we use in text messages” (Do you all text in slang? Neither do I.) They fear the unknown world that is Twitter, and most of all they fear the time their employees “waste” on all the above. Your job is to show your superiors how your tech knowledge can help the company.

• Offer to set up and manage the company’s social networking accounts.
• Respond quickly to every email via your smartphone.
• Keep your Facebook clean! Become the go-to guy (or girl) for all of your departments tech needs.
• Finally, one that has worked for me: befriend the I.T. guy. No matter what your role, he likely knows more about technology than you would ever care to. People trust him.  Management trusts him. If he respects you and your technological savvy, he trusts you and you’re in.

Now you can use your status as a digital native to gain the trust of your office full of digital immigrants. (I’m still searching for an email I deleted…wait we use Outlook instead of Gmail? It’s actually gone forever? Oops…)

Patience

Finally, try to have some patience. Like many of us, when I took this job I was wondering how long it would be before I moved on to another job.  If not a new job I was at least hoping for a raise or change of title.  I had only been there a week! We all know Gen Y’s change jobs a lot.  We are loyal to people but not organizations, we saw how the latter worked out for our parents.   Our parents told us all we were awesome, and most of us believe it (Am I wrong?) It is ingrained in our minds to be the best, and we can’t wait to get there.  But when it comes to your first job:

• Just slow down
• Learn all you can
• At least act like you’re paying your dues.

Your Gen Y advantages will get you where you want to be much quicker than you think.  Outside the office, however, we should all be marketing ourselves, branding ourselves, and networking our way to the next opportunity. Just be sure your company knows you’re happy to be there and in for the long haul. Besides, long haul can mean different things to different people, right?

We Gen Y’s are taking the workplace by storm, but we are still working for older bosses with the 9-5 mentality who thinks hash tags are only for drug dealers. Each of us has the skills to be successful in any job we choose, but it all depends on our plan of attack.  If you can mix the right amount of Gen Y talent with a little bit of Baby Boomer charm and professionalism, you have the advantage and you can go far.  I know I’m not there yet, but I’m getting closer every day. What about you?

(After a long day of work here in Denver, my plane is boarding.  With any luck I’ll be in Lexington having a drink with my college buddies before the night is over.  I’ll put the tie back on tomorrow.)

Bij veel mensen leeft het gevoel dat het allemaal niet meer ‘klopt’ op de arbeidsmarkt. Steeds meer ouderen om voor te zorgen en steeds minder werkenden om het werk te doen. Te weinig jongeren met een (juiste) opleiding en een vergrijzende beroepsbevolking. Men ‘moet’ werken tot zijn 67ste, maar men voelt zich al op zijn 50ste ‘afgeschreven’. De fileproblematiek en de op slot zittende huizenmarkt frustreert de mobiliteit op de arbeidsmarkt. Duidelijke politieke en maatschappelijke hervormingen staan niet gepland.

De Nederlandse arbeidsmarkt kenmerkt zich door een eigen unieke dynamiek. Dalende werkloosheid en een zeer beperkte groei van openstaande vacatures. Grote regionale fricties van vraag en aanbod. Inmiddels alweer net zoveel Oost-Europese werknemers als voor de crisis. Steeds meer mensen werken als ZZP’er. Van de beroepsbevolking heeft 12% een uitkering.

Werkgevers werven en reorganiseren op hetzelfde moment. Een aantal paradoxale ontwikkelingen die -met oude en nieuwe theorieën- lastig te verklaren zijn.

Lees hier het onderzoek  van YER en Intelligence Group naar de ontwikkelingen en trends op de arbeidsmarkt 2011 – 2015

Bill Conaty, die veertien jaar lang de HR-afdeling van General Electric (GE) leidde, en Ram Charan die de laatste decennia advies gaf aan de grootste leiders van dit moment, geven in hun recente boek The Talent Masters portretten van bekende talentfabrieken zoals GE en Procter & Gamble (P&G) en bedrijven die deze richting recent zijn ingeslagen. Zij schrijven dat ‘talent masters’ trots zijn op hun elitair karakter.

• GE verdeelt zijn werknemers in drie groepen, gebaseerd op hun potentieel.
• Unilever heeft een lijst van mensen die van nature leiderschapskwaliteiten vertonen, en verwijst ook naar hen als ‘listers’, zij die op de lijst staan.

Metingen en differentiatie
Voor elke talent master blijken twee zaken van belang: metingen en differentiatie.

• De beste bedrijven onderwerpen hun medewerkers geregeld aan ‘reviews’ en ‘assessments’.
• Bij high potentials doen ze nog meer moeite om een driedimensionaal beeld te maken van hun persoonlijkheid en er heel wat feedback over te geven.
• De baas van GE Jef Immelt is trots op zijn gedetailleerde kennis van alle zeshonderd mensen aan de top van hun bedrijf, inclusief hun familiale omstandigheden en persoonlijke ambitie.

Talentontwikkeling
Succesvolle bedrijven letten erop dat senior managers zich bezighouden met de ontwikkeling van talent.

• De voormalige leiders van GE en P&G Jack Welch en A.G. Lafley beweerden dat ze veertig procent van hun tijd aan het personeel besteedden.
• GE besteedt 1 miljard dollar per jaar aan training, het merendeel aan zijn elitaire managementschool in Crotonville. Opleidingen zijn duidelijk krachtige motivators. Maar ze helpen ook om banden te creëren tussen de toekomstige leiders van verafgelegen organisaties. Nog belangrijker dan externe opleidingen is de training on-the-job.
• P&G spreekt over ‘versnellende ervaringen’ en ‘vuurproeven’. Het meest begeerd zijn verplaatsingen naar het buitenland: jonge managers leren er hoe het is een volledig bedrijf te besturen, en specialisten worden er gedwongen om te gaan met een brede waaier aan problemen. Andere zware tests zijn het opzetten van een bedrijf in een afgelegen dorp, een populaire uitdaging bij Hindustan Unilever, of een ommekeer op gang brengen in een falende vestiging.
• Andy Grove, die aan het hoofd stond van Intel, verplichtte alle seniormensen, waaronder hijzelf, om minstens één week per jaar les te geven aan toptalent. Door het topmanagement in het proces te betrekken vermijden ze dat managers op lagere niveaus uitblinkers voor zichzelf houden en hun triomfen op eigen conto schrijven, terwijl er ook een dialoog ontstaat tussen de huidige en toekomstige leiders.  

Bredere strategie
Succesvolle bedrijven integreren talentontwikkeling ook met hun bredere strategie, zodat ze meer worden dan de som van hun delen.

P&G heeft graag managers die tegelijk innovatief zijn en in de wereld staan. Ze raken niet aan de top zonder het beheer van operaties in een bepaald land en een product wereldwijd.

• Agilent en Novartis zien specialisten graag evolueren naar general managers.
• Goodyear verving 23 van zijn 24 senior managers op twee jaar tijd toen het een shift doormaakte van de verkoop van banden aan autoproducenten naar de verkoop aan motorrijders.

  Luk Smeyers, inostix.com