Those Who Have a Job, Want to Quit. Those Who Want a Job, Can’t Find One. Blame Entrepreneurism

Posted by Jeff Carter
on May 31st, 2012

From time to time I have guest posts on my blog. I met Robbie Abed at a Technori meet up. He has a lot of fire and energy. He once was a consultant, and now has actively entered the start up world. He is one example of the type of people that are jumping into entrepreneurship in the midwest with both feet. You can reach Robbie here.(robbieabed.com). He is a Tech Entrepreneur, Developer, Writer extraordinaire. Follow him on twitter. So Robbie, the blog is yours.

Talented people had two choices when it came to full time salaried employment;

This Company or
That Company
Whatever company had the best package, won. Hiring Managers & Talent Acquisition leads are used to losing talented people to better companies who pay more or had better benefits. Talented people had leverage to pick whatever company they wanted to.

Today, there is another competitor that hiring managers have to compete against: Entrepreneurship. Talented people are quitting their comfy 9 to 5 jobs to start their own companies. That’s what I did and why I wrote the post Fire Me, I Beg You. Why buy a dream when you can create your own and sell it? After all, selling a dream is much better than having a dream sold to you. Right?

Now, it’s less of what company had the best package, but more of who’s dream do the talented people believe in the most. Your companies dream or their own dream? They still had leverage, but this time the leverage was used in a totally different way.

Why is hiring so tough? Because talented people don’t need you anymore. They don’t need the benefits because they know if worse comes to worse, they will find a comfy job. The options are there for them, therefore the risk of starting their own company isn’t an all or nothing deal.

What about the non techies? Well, it’s safe to say the market isn’t easy for them.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate is at 8.1%. Unemployment seems to be getting better statistically.

US Unemployment Rate data by YCharts

(From the BLS Stats)

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was little changed at 5.1 million in April. These individuals made up 41.3 percent of the unemployed. Over the year, the number of long-term unemployed has fallen by 759,000. (See table A-12.)

The civilian labor force participation rate declined in April to 63.6 percent, while the employment-population ratio, at 58.4 percent, changed little. (See table A-1.)

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was essentially unchanged in April at 7.9 million. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-8.)

The chart shows progress, but when you dig into the text above from the BLS website, there are some glaring metrics staring at you in the face. 41.3% of the unemployed have been been unemployed for 27 weeks. Essentially 6 months!

Why are there so many people out there who can’t find jobs for a long period of time? Isn’t all the competition gone now? Wouldn’t it be easier for these people to find jobs?

The simple answer is: Those who want a job, don’t have the tech skills that companies want. It’s simple supply & demand. Their skills are generic business & have no coding / technical background.

The complex answer is: If they acted more like the entrepreneurs who quit their job, they would have found a job or created one. It’s not what you know, it’s what you should know. The talented entrepreneurs focus on what they should know, and learn it the hard way. You can no longer get away with getting a college degree and finding a great job out of college. Ask James Altucher, he has a few opinions on that.

My advice to hiring managers (startups included) looking for great tech talent? Sell the dream and sell it hard. It’s your dream vs. their dream. Benefits are no longer a factor. The best dream wins. Good Luck.

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image source: http://gapingvoid.com/2006/04/26/entrepreneurs-dont-need-money/

thanks for the link Doug Ross.

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