On one recent day when the stock market tanked, presidential candidates and broadcasters were tossing around the word "recession," and President Bush was promising emergency economic stimulus plans, I was surprised at how quickly my business companions' remarks turned to what they always turn to: matters of people capital, not financial capital. I heard all the usual complaints - lack of skills, lack of desire, inability to pass a random drug test - and I thought they were talking about their low-wage, hourly non-exempt workers. But then they said even their college-educated exempt positions were problematic. Lexington's employers are bearish on Lexington's labor pool. That's when I smelled the musk and heard the pounding hooves of the bull and remembered what MSNBC's Jim Cramer says almost every night on his Mad Money TV show: "Even in a bear market, there's always a bull market somewhere."
"Have you thought about deliberately hiring the so-called 'over-qualified' workers over age 50?" I asked. Several folks expressed incredulity that there really is any plus-50 talent available.
"How many good middle class jobs does Lexington have to lose before Lexington gets the memo?" I thought.
I could see Jim Cramer pushing the "Buy, Buy, Buy" sound effects button and I could hear him yelling "So-called overqualified workers over age 50 are on sale!"
The old rules against hiring over-qualified workers because they might leave you for a better job don't apply anymore. The middle-class jobs are going away and they're not coming back, so "over-qualified" people don't have anywhere to go. Buy and hold.
Do you need people who can pass a random drug test? These over-qualified, 50-plus workers have been passing random drug tests for decades. Do you need people who are motivated to work? Those 50-plus workers are trying to pay for their kids' college, pay off mortgages and fund retirements that are still 15 years away. They are motivated. Buy and hold. Today's 50-year-olds aren't trying to "slow down." Heck, we're just getting started.
Some of you are thinking, "These talented 50-plus workers don't apply here, and many of them start their own companies."
Don't be fooled by a business card that says "consultant" or "coach" or "CEO of Overqualified & Associates." Most of the time, their "business" isn't making any money and there are no "associates." I've been tempted to print a business card that reads "Higginbotham & NO ASSOCIATES" with the "NO ASSOCIATES" in 24-point font. When you meet these guys, you should listen closely for the pounding hooves of a bull market buying opportunity because, I'm telling you, the jobs you're afraid these talented 50-year-olds will leave you for have gone away, and they aren't coming back. Experienced talent is on sale. Buy and hold.
I have permission to tell you about my friend Dave. Dave speaks fluent Japanese, has a master's degree in political science, knows how to host and create Web sites and has a decade of experience in software testing. By day, you'll find Dave carrying a business card that says he's a Web site designer and musical talent manager. By night, he delivers your pizza. Can you smell Dave's hot breath; can you see his horns? Dave is on sale. There's a bull market in Dave. You can hire Dave and others like him if you'll just strike the word "over-qualified" from your vocabulary. There's little danger that Dave will leave you for a better job. Dave's job went away, and it's not coming back. Jump the wood rail fence and shake a job application at the raging bulls.
Oh, there's one more thing you'll have to do to cash in on the bull market in 50-plus talent: you'll have to get some 50-plus talent on the front lines of your recruitment effort. Caution, I'm about to say something controversial: If 50-plus job applicants try to apply for a job at your company, most of the time they get the bum's rush from the screener, who is often an entry-level twenty-something who is uncomfortable interviewing an applicant who reminds her of her parents. She secretly believes all older applicants to be Luddites and technophobes. Now the thundering hooves you hear are the sound of older talent running away from your business and headed off to their pizza delivery jobs and their uncomfortable roles as accidental consultants and reluctant entrepreneurs. Here's a fact: your business will attract more of the demographics and psychographics it already has. It's called your brand. If the face of your brand is exclusively twenty-somethings, the experienced talent won't feel welcome.
The economic news is only going to get worse, and every time you hear it, you should remember that even in a bear market there's always a bull market somewhere.
Experience is on sale. Buy and hold.