Job Market Crisis: What You Said

The preliminary results of the Channel Insider/Amazon Consulting Channel Talent Study produced some not so shocking results: Vendors and solution providers agree that finding the right technology and sales talent and pay are the two top challenges in the current job market.

While the study is still ongoing, the preliminary results have garnered some interesting discussions on the Channel Insider forums. Readers have expressed differing concerns and perspectives about the availability of technology talent, problems with human resource and hiring managers, training and competency expectations and, of course, salaries.

Almost universally, readers blame the channel talent crisis on the companies doing the hiring. For those that believe there is a talent problem (many dispute that notion), they say the inability of solution providers and vendors to fill open jobs is a combination of employers’ unrealistic qualification expectations and an unwillingness to pay applicants what they’re worth.

Job seekers placed much of the talent crisis blame on inept human resources departments, hiring managers and automated application systems. One forum poster said that automated Web application systems made it too easy for unqualified people to apply for jobs, flooding companies with useless applications that only lead to discouragement. Another reader said that HR people are simply following checklists when screening applicants and, because they don’t know what they’re looking for, they’ll pass over qualified applicants.

Of course, pay is the big issue to job seekers. One-half of survey participants say that suppressed wages resulting from globalization and outsource is driving down salaries. As one reader wrote, “Your problem is you are both too cheap to pay for training and too cheap to pay for someone who is already a 110% fit.”

And nearly 50 percent say that applications have unrealistic salary expectations. Employers say that applicants demand too much money for skill sets that aren’t current or adequate, or that they haven’t adjusted their compensation expectations to the realities of the current job market. As one hiring manager wrote, “If someone is asking for $120,000 per year, they should prove to me that they're worth it by taking the time to learn technology for which they are seeking employment.”

The comments reveal a different perspective to the entire “IT talent crisis.” These raw comments (only slightly edited for publication) show the frustration of many job seekers, as well as the shifting requirements and expectations among employers. To read the comments, please click on the links below.

Read More Feedback on the IT Talent Crisis
•    Frustrated Hiring Managers
•    Disappointed Job Seekers
•    Undervalued Salespeople
•    Ignorant Human Resources
•    Trouble with Training
•    Laughably Low Pay & Salaries