What The Heck Is Causing The Workforce Funk??

Every once in a while there is a post so brilliant it becomes the topic of what I write about, even pushing my editorial calendar back (yeah right :p).  Such is the case with Utah Tech Jobs’ Robert Merrill’s recent post titled 4 Factors Creating Utah Workforce Funk.  From the introduction:

There’s no question something interesting is happening with Utah’s professional/technical workforce right now, and I think there are no less than four competing factors at play any business-owner should be paying very close attention to:

He goes on to suggest the four factors are:

  1. Real and Wage Inflation
  2. Intense Competition for Talent
  3. Corporate cost-cutting
  4. High Energy/Commute Costs

First, it’s clear to me that this workplace funk is NOT just a Utah thing, and not limited to professionals and/or technical folks.

Second, Robert says this is something any “business owner should [pay] very close attention to.”  And since YOU are CEO of Me, Inc., it’s obvious that YOU need to pay very close attention to these four factors.

I don’t have anything to add to Robert’s awesome post and analysis, and I hate to see you go somewhere else, but click on over to Utah Tech Jobs and check out this brilliant post… and consider what it means for YOU.

(I’ll miss you ;))

3 thoughts on “What The Heck Is Causing The Workforce Funk??”

  1. This is so funny (not haha funny…). I was actually just on another forum talking about the 4-day work week — which is being proposed in many states now, although in my opinion it’s good for fuel efficiency but not so much for human efficiency (so to speak). In any case, that was the Utah link…

    You’re right. The workforce funk is not just a Utah thing — it’s everywhere. You give four great factors for us to chew on, but I think you might be overlooking another, more subtle one: the google-ization of American industry. Think about it. For the last few years it seems that every other start-up has been some kind of online tool or user-generated interface, and they’ve been snatching up a lot of talent. A lot of other companies that aren’t even necessarily RELATED to the web have also started to “think like google” in an attempt to mirror their success. Well, what we’re experiencing now is market over-saturation, which will eventually lead to a lighter version of the “dotcom” bust in the not too distant past. imho we’re in it already.

    But this particular funk will improve, slowly. Ironically part of this is due to many online companies that are assisting professionals. The army of freelance virtual assistants comes to mind. Linked In is becoming a great networking tool for young talent. Recruiting websites like Dayak are adapting the priceline model for the corporate hiring sector, maximizing roi and unearthing stellar candidates in the process. And then there’s JibberJobber, which I can’t praise enough! The 2.0 movement is just cant, but it’s keeping the bubble from bursting entirely.

    Gas prices, on the other hand, along with the other three problems you mention, will probably not improve any time soon. But I have sensed a work ethic — or perhaps “work theory” — problem as of late in many corporations I’ve dealt with, and I think this explains part of it.

  2. Really interesting article Robert. Do you think that long term there’s going to be increased competition for jobseekers in marketplaces? Also, do you think the rise in fuel prices will see increased competition for jobs at employers close to home with those employers further away finding it difficult to recruit and keep talent?

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