2010- Job Market Forecast

By Nick D'Ambrosio

Ok, so I am not an economist and quite frankly not a real numbers guy either. But I do spend a good deal of my time talking to job seekers and hiring managers each week. While not the most scientific way to gauge the job market, the insight gained through these conversations provides data I doubt you will find in those “other reports”. As far as the technology job market goes, here is what my indicators are telling me.

2009- A Tough Summer

No doubt about it, the summer was a tough time to be looking for a job. I believe it was either the bottom or very close to it. We had a good start to 2009 but as summer started the jobs begin disappearing. As recruiters we spend a lot of time reaching out to potential hiring managers. During the months of June, July and August we approached approximately 500 potential hiring managers. Very few were in the mood to talk, the first sign things were not good. The companies that did seem to be hiring were so picky that the job openings they did have had been open for many months. We also would be running ads on job boards for the few positions we were trying to fill and getting an average of 200 resumes per posting. In a normal market the number is closer to 70. While these numbers might not be enough to tell the whole story, it certainly was enough information to know the job market was BAD.

2009- A Good Fall

After Labor Day we saw things starting to change. Hiring managers were returning our calls and emails. Many had had multiple job openings. We also were talking to job candidates who were telling us about other job openings they were hearing about. Things were looking up. We could be seeing a real recovery. Believe it or not this type of “street data” has always been a very good indicator of how the job market was doing, good or bad.
As I write this, it’s the first week of December and we are busy! The trend we saw from the fall is continuing. Companies are hiring and many are talking about aggressive hiring plans for the first quarter of 2010.


2010- Looking Strong

So what does all this mean? 2010 is going to start off good and get better as the year progresses. Granted there are still a ton of unemployed people that need to get hired before the media will say things are looking better, but trust me on this, things are looking better. As always every region is different and certain backgrounds are in higher demand than others. A proven sales or presales professional in New York or San Jose with a networking, storage or enterprise software background is going to be hearing about more jobs than a programmer in Ohio. But that is typically the case in any market.