More Than Money

Recruiting management and executive talent in the transportation/logistics world has been as much of a roller coaster ride as the industry itself.  We went from the Covid Freight Bonanza to the Great Freight Recession.  Like most roller coaster rides it’s been a combination of fun, fear and nausea.  That would certainly describe the transportation/logistics job market.  We quickly went from “Help Wanted” to layoffs and hiring freezes.

Overlooked in this mad scramble to hire talent and then reverse course to “right-sizing” are some fundamental changes in the Candidate Market.  These changes have been coming on for the last 10 or 15 years and have now come to define the candidate market.  And when this freight recession ends, and it will end, good luck finding help.

Much has changed and there are a lot of reasons why.  These reasons tend to fall under the heading of “changing expectations”.  I think this is particularly true for candidates who have come of age since 2000.  For management level and above this would be in the 25-45 age range.  They have grown up in a different world; the world of 911, the 2008-2010 recession, mergers and acquisitions, an increasingly polarized nation and, most recently, the Covid Pandemic.  To a large degree these events have shaped their outlook toward work and career advancement.

These candidates are reluctant to trust employers (or recruiters).  They have personally experienced or witnessed the impact of a recession on employment.  The escalation of merger and acquisition activity during the extended era of cheap money following the recession may have created some jobs, but even more job losses.  If this is how the marketplace works, why risk changing jobs or relocating for a career opportunity that is just as likely to evaporate as it is to materialize?  We have a prime age workforce that just doesn’t buy into pursuing career opportunities unless the overall payoff is large, highly probable and immediate.  They have good reason to be cynical about the long-term benefits of sacrificing too much for what may well turn out to be too little.

The offshoots of this are a desire for work-life balance and a resistance to relocation.  Furthermore, to make a job change; it must be the right position, with the right company, in the right place, at the right time…and for the right money.  Most candidates are no longer willing to take a “stepping-stone” job for a modest increase in pay, especially if it involves relocation and does not come with a significant improvement in work-life balance.  And those candidates who are genuinely career driven are looking for a bigger job, more responsibility and a lot more money.  Gone are the days of someone taking a job for a 10-15% increase in compensation.   Perhaps if there is no relocation, that might work.  Otherwise, it needs to be a 25-30% increase which likely puts them above current employees in similar positions.  So that’s not going to work.

For now there are enough unemployed or under-employed candidates who will accept any job if it pays close to what they were previously earning.  But that candidate pool will dry up quickly as the economy improves.  We are also seeing companies hire below “spec” in order to stay within their pay range for the position.  More often than not it does not turn out well for the company or the candidate.

Looking ahead, companies that have the talent will be the winners.  This means developing and retaining that talent.  Companies cannot rely on the marketplace to fill their needs.  This is coming from a headhunter who makes his living recruiting people away from one company to another. There will still be times when going to the market for talent is necessary.  Recruiting, whether internal or third-party, will still be around.  But companies best invest in new people and fill their needs internally.  Finding and hiring talent in the open market is not going to get any easier or more affordable.

You Might Need A Hearing Aid If...

                                                    

                                      

Hearing aids are just one more grudging concession to growing older.  It was a battle I could no longer fight, much less win.  My wife Kayla has needlessly put up with my poor hearing for years.  So, I now wear hearing aids.  Thus, for the sake of all you older men who might not hear as well as you used to and for the sake of your tortured wives even more so, I feel it is my duty to suggest “you might need a hearing aid if” certain things are happening.

You might need a hearing aid if you think your wife just mumbles all the time.  You may ask what happened to her? Why doesn’t she speak clearly anymore?  Did she have a stroke while I wasn’t watching?  Is she just mumbling to irritate me?  News flash:  She is not the problem.

You might need a hearing aid if you think kids these days don’t know how to talk.  Whatever happened to proper enunciation?  Too much texting and social media is ruining verbal communication.  No one can understand these kids, not even their parents.  Uh, sorry Boomer, the kids are not the problem.

You might need a hearing aid if restaurants and other public places have just gotten too noisy.  It’s impossible to carry on a decent conversation with the music and background noise.  They must not want customers to stay around too long unless they are spending money.  No wonder all these places are going out business.   The fact is these places are doing just fine.  That’s why so many people are there talking, eating and drinking.  

You might need a hearing aid if your neighbor starts commenting about the television show they heard you watching last night.  Or they ask if your wife is OK because they heard you loudly asking her why she mumbles all the time.

You might need a hearing aid if your pets start running from you because you’re talking so loud they think you’re mad at them.

You might need a hearing aid if you are driving and discover that your turn signal has been on for the last five miles. 

You might need a hearing aid if a nurse ask you when is the last time you had anything to eat or drink and you answer by telling them your date of birth.

And you might need a hearing aid if you call a customer service help line and simply cannot understand what the person is saying.  Ok, bad example. Maybe you don’t need a hearing aid if that’s the only problem you’re having.

                  “Whoever has ears, let them hear” Matthew 11:15

Assassination Attempt, My Two Cents Worth

 

“Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can see the future.”- Marcus Aurelius.

_The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump will be THE STORY for the next few weeks and may turn out to be THE STORY of the 2024 Election.

 

_This event will push Trump even farther ahead of Biden in the polls, especially in the swing states.  Trump is now a lock to win the election.

 

_To not secure a building less than 200 yards away and then not have eyes on all rooftops in the area is an epic lapse in security.  That it happened in broad daylight only adds to the scope of this security failure.

 

_How long before The Left makes this about gun control? I’ll give it two weeks. And, oh by the way, expect a jump in the sale of guns and ammo.

 

_Democrats may rightly conclude they can’t win in November and just ride Biden/Harris to the finish line.  Why fight the Biden family and supporters only to end up with Harris/Whoever on a losing ticket?

 

_One can only hope there is no evidence that the assassin had ties to any radical groups.  The internet is already boiling over with conspiracy theories.  Even if there is “no evidence”, it’s not going to stop the MAGA hardcore from believing this was a Deep-State sponsored hit job.

 

_The political divide in this nation has been growing for the past 40 years, most of all in the last 8 years.  We cannot go on at this rate.  Our politicians, our journalists, our religious leaders, our educators and our entertainers need to tone down the rhetoric.  Just stop feeding the fire.

Two Cents Worth While Contemplating the meaning of Independence

 

Time for another installment of unrelated subject matter and commentary.

­_I doubt that the Founding Fathers of this nation ever envisioned piling up a federal debt that would be 25% greater than annual gross domestic product.  Or that the interest on debt would exceed National Defense spending.  Not a great formula for being “independent”.

_I look forward to seeing Kevin Costner’s “Horizon”.  But I don’t do movie theaters anymore and certainly not for a 3-hour Part I episode.  I’m spoiled by the big screen at home, my comfortable chair and most of all, a pause button.

_Health tip: Make sure you’re getting enough protein.  “Enough” depends on size, sex, age and activity level.  Most of us consume too many empty carbs and not enough protein.  Worldwide it’s estimated that over 1 billion people suffer from severe protein deficiency.  

_The Freight Recession continues.  While we are seeing some signs of improvement, the consensus of opinion is we will not see overall capacity/demand balance until mid-2025.

_Anyone who is just now realizing that President Biden is not up to the task has either not being paying attention or they have been in denial.  And Donald Trump isn’t far behind.  There really needs to be an age limit on the President and Vice-President positions.  Once a person gets past 70, even if they are very healthy, they begin to lose their edge.  Clearly there are big jobs a healthy, super senior can do.  Warren Buffet and the late Charlie Munger come to mind.  Clint Eastwood has done some very good work well past 70.  There are artists and entertainers who remain outstanding in their 70's and even into their 80's.  But being President of the United States is a whole other ballgame, if it’s done right.  And the risks are too great if it’s not done right.  We should not be rolling the dice against old age for the most important job in the world.