Remember the good old days, before the recession. That was about 18 months ago. In January 2008 the National unemployment rate was 4.9%. Engineering jobs were very plentiful for most specialities. In fact, there was a severe shortish of experienced Engineering talent in some fields.
At a 2007 Staffing Industry Forum I attended, it was reported that US colleges were not graduating enough Engineers to meet the demand. 100,000 more Engineers were needed every year than there were graduating. That demand and shortfall, as stated at the time, was expected to continue for at least a decade – 10 years.
Obviously the demand, along with so many other professions, has dropped dramatically – for now. The silver lining to this recession is there is expertise and talent available today that companies spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to hire just a year and a half ago and couldn’t. Hard working, creative people, that were employed 18 months ago, are sitting on the sidelines waiting to go back to work and prove their worth. Companies that know they will need this talent as the economy starts to turn around are wise to examine this opportunity today, rather than wait.
There will be a shortish again, probably sooner rather than later. For those who wait, the selection of top people will wear thin quickly and you will most like pay a premium for who you can hire. My advice is (as crazy as it might sound to you right now), don’t wait. Plan for the future now and be positioned for growth with the best personnel available and leave your competition behind.