This article on CNN’s Money & Main St. made me mad.
REALLY MAD.
The headline reads Overqualified and underpaid workers: Workers are downgrading their job prospects, but employers get to cherry pick the best talent for less pay.
Cartoon by Hugh
Taking advantage of your new hires by putting them in jobs they’re overqualified for and underpaying them on top of that is incredibly short-sighted.
And fiscally irresponsible.
Ok stupid.
Employers who do this guarantee themselves a future of bored and frustrated employees, average performance at best, and of course there is the high cost of turnover.
NEWSFLASH.
Turnover is expensive. Depending on the salary level and position estimates range from 30% to more than 150% of annual salary.
Undercutting someone’s salary for the short amount of time that they will actually stay with your company until the job market turns around – and it will – and they find a job that pays them what they’re worth and provides challenge and an actual career path – and they will – is kind of like not paying your utility bill.
It’s all fun and games while you’re getting the “free” electricity – and then when it catches up with you, you pay. You really pay. Not just the amount you owe for the electricity you’ve used, but when your power gets turned off you have to go without electricity until you get the bill paid. Major inconvenience…ya think?
Then there are the fees. The late fee, the reconnection fee – and most likely there is now damage to your credit and who knows how much that is going to cost you.
I’m thinking it would have been a heck of a lot easier and cheaper to just pay the bill.
This excerpt from the CNN article has DANGER written all over it.
“Sixty-four percent of workers who were laid off over the last 12 months said they have applied for positions that were below the job level they had held previously, according to a survey by Career Builder.
And the vast majority of employers said they would consider experienced candidates who apply for jobs for which they’re overqualified, Career Builder said.
Brian Rushton Phillips has 13 years of experience as a creative director in the publishing industry, but since he was laid off in February, Phillips, 37, has been applying for senior and even intermediate designer positions that are one or two levels down from his last job.
“The positions I have been applying for are typically $20,000-$30,000 less than I was making before the downturn,” he said.
“I was looking for jobs at my level but there weren’t many available,” he said. “There are mainly junior positions available.”
Still, Phillips has struggled to even get an interview and believes if an opportunity does come up, it will likely be a downgrade from his previous experience. “I am prepared to take whatever I can get.”
But the tough climate often works out to the employer’s advantage, because companies can hire more experienced and capable candidates, like Phillips, at a lower cost.”
It makes me furious when companies do this and this article makes me even more mad because the way that it’s written implies that this practice is ok.
Now for the part that really ticks me off.
“Because of the tough job market, most job seekers are willing to accept positions they’re overqualified for even if it means taking a paycut and a demotion.”
Before you start writing in the comments “But I need a job!” and “I have bills to pay!” and “How do you expect me to feed my pet liger / goat / lizard?” let me say this. I once took “a step back” in my career and took a job for less money at a lower level with delusions promises of grandeur within “six months.”
HA.
The only thing grand about that job was the day I quit less than a year later when I was so incredibly bored and frustrated and 1-800-TIRED of pinching pennies – and I found a job that was challenging, inspiring, and paid me what I was worth.
And then there is this:
“Employers have even increased the requirements for specific positions and lowered the corresponding salary in response to the current climate, noted Jo Prabhu, who runs placement firm 1-800-Jobquest in Long Beach, Calif.”
“Even her own business has benefited, Prabhu admits. Last year the recruiters she employs earned commission plus a base salary, but now “I hire recruiters for our organization on commission only.”
“There are a lot more recruiters willing to work for just anything,” she said. “We are taking advantage of the fact that we no longer have to pay anyone a salary.
It has saved a lot of our overhead cost.”
Sweet.
Hope you’re budgeting five to ten times what you’ve “saved” for the turnover and replacement costs over the next two years.
Look.
Before you say it I get supply + demand. I have a degree in Economics.
But this is not peanut butter we’re talking about. It’s not that simple.
It’s people. And people are not a commodity.
It’s your workforce. It’s your brand and your reputation.
It’s your company’s future.
You get what you pay for.
To learn more about Stephanie and how she can help your company implement strategies to attract top talent, click here.
Tagged as:
Career suicide,
Cartoon by Hugh,
Entrepreneur,
Get a life,
I need a job,
I work in HR,
Save the stamp and keep your hatemail to yourself,
Yes I am actually being serious
