In trying to make sense of the whole end-of-days economy pundits are obsessively talking about non-stop, particularly in the (un)employment sector, it helps to get a little perspective and look at the past in predicting the future.
Rewind to 2002.
Much like natural evolution, the largest companies in the online employment space are either dead or have been gobbled up by bigger players. Think Headhunter.net, CareerMosaic and HotJobs. What’s left are the variety of players who were small enough to survive the nuclear blast. Think JobCircle, The Local Job Network and even my former employer CareerBoard.
Sorta like mammals surviving that dinosaur extinction thing.
Fast forward to present day. The most far-reaching job sites are bracing for the worst as layoffs sweep across the landscape. The more nimble among us, will likely survive as they did in the last downturn. And, as recollection serves, the healthcare industry will carry many of them through the darkness and into the light, Carol Anne-style.
No matter how bad the economy gets, healthcare recruiting will continue to spend like drunken sailors hoping to nab and keep enough nurses, radiologists and physicians to stay in business while competition for The Baby Boomer Buck continues to grow.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2006-07 Career Guide to Industries, “Healthcare employment growth is expected to account for about 3.6 million new wage and salary jobs -19 percent of all wage and salary jobs added to the economy over the 2004-14 period. Wage and salary employment in the healthcare industry is projected to increase 27 percent through 2014, compared with 14 percent for all industries combined.”
In the dark days that were 2002-2004, my former employer could always count on every local hospital – as well as surrounding healthcare systems hoping to poach Cleveland’s best – to pony-up dollars for annual memberships. They could also be counted on to experiment with new and inventive options to reach a targeted audience, like video and banner advertising.
So, this holiday season, feel free to mourn the loss of retailers, bankers, manufacturers and engineererers (yeah, it’s not a word, but it should be). But if you’re looking for a little pick-me-up, get yourself a shot-in-the-arm of that good old fashioned medical industry recruiting budget.
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December 19th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
all right… did you personally select that picture of the nurse? how… nice.
interesting that you raise healthcare as an ever growing space. i’d agree – and i’d also say it’s a place to make investments and help to foster innovation. interesting piece here on how we should take some of the bailout money and invest it in healthcare among other places… http://www.philly.com/philly/business/36217124.html
January 2nd, 2009 at 6:36 am
Perfect timing Joel..I google about recruitment and job boards in healthcare and your blog post comes up! ..Google still works.
Joel as someone just learning about the recruitment/job board industry I’d be interested in your perspective of the top 3 things that a new niche job board is going to need to not only survive but gain traction in its niche….ok so it’s healthcare…of all of the people with a view in this area I’d appreciate your perspective.
Thanks
Ed