From a buyer/hiring manager point of view, we saw the pool of available candidates reach its peak in the early summer as the approximately nine month period of layoffs slowed to a trickle. Although we’ve been through this cycle in the market during years past, and many would agree we were overdue for a “correction“, it’s worth noting that there were some key differences in the process of layoffs/restructuring/downsizing that stood out in this most recent cycle.

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The most significant of these changes resulted from organizations’ concerns around the risk of being perceived as bias, or showing inequality, in their employee reduction process. This concern translated to a decision process that was absent of any lower or middle management input with regard to employee, tenure, performance, etc. Specific to Sales teams, we saw a much higher percentage of the “cream of the crop” sales representatives receiving their walking papers than I can remember.

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Today, we find ourselves entering the the peak Hiring Opportunity point in the buyers/hiring market based on two factors: 1) A high percentage of desirable candidates in the larger available candidate pool, and 2) a subset of the remaining (currently employed) “passive” candidates who now find themselves on the other side of the disruption seen over the past 3+ years and are rethinking everything – especially their personal career track.