Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Fear of Commitment?

No this is not a relationship problem I am speaking of.

Has anyone else noted that these days there seems to be an overall fear of commitment in the business world? In our home it is seen everyday. My husband is looking for a career not just a job, though is not coming up with either. This is something new for him, and has been getting him down.

However it has opened out eyes to what is really going on in the business economy. It is not that companies are not looking for workers, they are. Though they are going about it in a way that in the past was little used for non entry level positions. In our area at least and that we moved from earlier in the year we saw a dramatic increase in jobs that can only be contacted through Temp Agencies.

The shift from the tradition hiring has been long in coming. Recruiters are used to pre-screen potential candidate and streamline the system. This is an Hiring market with hundreds of applicants for even the most entry level jobs. However there seems to be a shift in many parts of the country sidestepping the recruiter, and going to the Temp Agent.

When in an interview recently my husband was asked by the HR person Why it was that he had gone through a Temp Agency if he was looking for a career, he polity pointed out that it was due to the fact that the job had only been posted through a Temp Agency. He did later return to the question by asking why it was they Used a Temp Agency, and the answer is one that has become all to common in the business economy today. They are not ready to make a commitment on any one person for positions, they want to hire someone to do the job for a while before they make a choice.

Now note this does sound like a logical plan for a low to mid range position, however please keep in mind my husband was in an interview for Head of Operations for an International distributor. He was so astonished that they would state that they were going to take on a Temp for such a key role in a large company it got me looking.

Many companies are doing this even for the most senior positions, refusing to make a commitment on anyone, not because they have the luxury of time. Rather they are afraid in this economy to take on anyone for a permanent position. Now I am far from an economist, but this frame of thinking while understandable makes me worried. If companies continue to hold out on hiring and job creation in hopes of a guarantee we are assured that things will not get better.

It has even gotten to the point that some of these positions he has applied for are being closed rather then take the risk of bringing someone else on, the destruction of a job in this day and age is not easy to hear, and it is out of a simple fear of commitment.

But do not let this get you down, seeing this can be used to your advantage by showing you are a safer risk. Use the Temp Agencies, and see if you can build your name up, you already offer your quality, offer also your stability.