What a jam-packed day!
The conference actually kicked off last evening with a great reception and the opportunity to meet a few of the attending CFOs. My little group was joined by one of tomorrow’s speakers, Tim Giehll, CEO of Bond Talent US and author of “Human Capital Supply Chains.” An interesting, and very lively, conversation around hiring, retention, and the conundrum of finding skilled talent in a 9% unemployment environment ensued.
This morning began with Dr. John Graham, Co-director of the Center of Financial Excellence of Duke University providing an overview of the Global Business Outlook survey. Lots of great information and you can find all of it on my Facebook business page.
With projected growth in domestic full-time hiring at an anemic .7% (yes, that is point seven percent), we are looking at a minimum of another 12 months of 9+% unemployment. Here’s the kicker. Despite high unemployment, US employers are having a difficult time finding skilled workers.
The survey revealed that 21% of employers are in hiring mode and 16% would like to hire. Of those 37%, 9.3% can’t find the talent they need and 25% can’t hire due to a lack of resources or an inability to find the right talent.
One CFO I talked with indicated finding good finance talent in the Philadelphia area was next to impossible. Another CFO from California said starting salaries for new grads in finance was $80,000 and they can’t find the talent they need.
Now, for some good news.
Of those surveyed, 61% expect to restore hours worked per week and 46% intend to restore training & development to pre-recession levels.
And my own personal PS … the CFO market is still moving!