Greetings from the Staff at Gardner Resources,

We are little more than halfway through Q1 of 2009 and the uncertainty over economic conditions continues to deepen.  Significant layoffs and severe budget cuts across many industries and sectors have resulted.  Local IT organizations have definitely experienced layoffs and budget reductions thus far, however, they seem to be holding their own, adopting a more moderated approach to the crisis.  Layoffs have occurred but have been relatively limited.  New initiatives have been put on hold but existing ones are budgeted and moving forward.  Hiring has been curtailed but continues in support of ongoing projects. "We are in a holding pattern.  Everyone is waiting to see what happens.", a Boston Area executive recently commented. With this holding pattern strategy, IT might be moving towards a period of malaise. 

Never Waste Stagnation

Managing through a period of stagnation is often more difficult than managing though a crisis.   A talent hedging strategy can help get IT out of the malaise and moving again.

When President Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel spoke the words, "Never waste a crisis," he was talking about how you can achieve goals during scary times you might never attempt when people are generally satisfied with the status quo.  The power of the phrase comes from its irony.  How can you waste some­thing you never wanted in the first place, i.e., a crisis?  But the logic is self-evident.  It is when people are threatened that they become more motivated, more creative, more willing to rally around leadership and more likely to challenge the established order - all of which makes dramatic progress possible.  And an economic crisis can create opportunity in other ways.  In business, for example, resources that would otherwise be scarce and expensive are now much more available and relatively cheap.  That is if you have the money to buy them, of course.

So what about the current economic situation with respect to IT?  Are we in a crisis?  Are special opportunities in play now that might not otherwise exist?  And, if so, what's the best way to leverage those? 

As a contract staffing and consulting partner to IT, our first-hand experience suggests that this is not the full fledged crisis the rest of the economy is experiencing, at least not yet.  Compared to many other fields, IT right now seems to be holding its own - both on the employment front and in terms of compensation.  Though we see fewer big new projects being started, most already underway are not being canceled.  Though hiring has been curtailed and some layoffs have occurred, hiring of permanent staff and contractors is still occurring and compensation levels have been relatively stable.  Read More