Overqualified

The New York Times online just ran a story about how a company in Indiana, having garnered 500 applicants for a $13 per hour job posting, instituted a thoughtful recruiting process to weed through the applicants. (Amid Tough Climate, a Thoughtful Recruitment Process, NY Times, 10/21/09). In what appears to be a timeline of two weeks, they were able to whittle down the list, conduct interviews and hire the person they believe was best suited for the position. This was accomplished by first eliminating the "significantly overqualified candidates right away, reasoning that they would leave when the economy improved. Among them was a former I.B.M. business analyst with 18 years experience; a former director of human resources; and someone with a master’s degree and 12 years at Deloitte & Touche, the accounting firm."

For me, the pedigree of some of these applicants hits home. This time around in this Recession, in this job market, in the face of escalating economic peril, there are simply too many well-qualified professionals out there all competing for jobs for which they are immediately overlooked precisely because they are overqualified. The fact that they have to resort to applying to jobs at a lower wage and professional level speaks to the tightness of the job market. Yet, the old thinking still prevails that those who are overqualified will leave immediately when a better paying position presents itself. I don't believe this will be the case this time around.

Eight million individuals have lost their jobs in just under two years at a pace unseen since the Great Depression. And, leading economic forecasters predict that the ranks of the unemployed will continue to rise through 2010 and hiring will not rebound til at least 2012, not to mention that we are still losing about 250,000 jobs a month. The fact is we need to swing to a positive of creating 400,000 jobs per month simply to begin to re-absorb the currently unemployed and to have jobs available for the 150,000 matriculating into the workforce every month.

Job creation statistics show growth in primarily the healthcare, government and education sectors, sectors that are primarily funded by taxpayer dollars. I am not seeing where these sectors can possibly create jobs of the magnitude required especially in the face of insufficient and now declining tax revenues and federal, state and local governments' spiraling debt burdens. In addition, new job procurers are most likely earning less than they did previously for the same or similar job.

So, I believe companies do not have to worry about job jumpers at this juncture because there are no jobs to jump to. Besides, if you have a job, your head is down working your bejesus off because you do not want to lose it. You are not thinking of jumping to another company, believe me. So for these overqualified professionals, what now? Where will they find work if they are automatically turned down for opportunities for which they are deemed overqualified yet there are no jobs being created at their level?