| Steering the boat through stormy waters | ||
| We are in the midst of a global credit crisis. As a result, we have been presented with doomsday stories about the grave implications, and comparisons to the depression of the 1930s. Lately, more balanced reports have surfaced. As a global headhunter with activities across the world, we would like to add our weight to a more balanced picture. The uncertainty The crisis in not evenly felt everywhere. Some sectors are harder hit than others, and some countries are harder hit than others. If you are working in the financial sector or living in Iceland, the financial crisis is naturally felt very acutely. For most people and business leaders however, the biggest factor is the uncertainty that comes in the wake of the crisis. It is this uncertainty about the future state of the economy that has fuelled the recent dramatic swings on the stock markets, and it is this uncertainty which today makes business leaders more cautious. Is the party over? Uncertainty, yes – doomsday, no. The current crisis will undoubtedly trigger a higher general rate of unemployment and temporarily lower growth rates, but the world economy is by no means at a complete standstill. As a global headhunter with activities in more than 25 countries, we work alongside both companies which are highly sensitive to market fluctuations as well as those who are less so. We have also seen it before. Seven years ago, the IT-bubble burst. Today, it is a finance bubble instead. In both instances, optimistic investors had invested heavily into the global and impressive technological possibilities of these sectors and the resulting high-growth companies. Even when the IT bubble did burst, hurting a lot of people and companies in the process, it did not by any means stop people from using IT and IT services. Strong products and strong companies survived and continued to prosper afterwards. Likewise, we will still have a banking sector and mortgage lending businesses in the future. The credit crisis has also been met with a strong and co-ordinated political and macroeconomic answer. Governments and national treasuries across the world have intervened in the market to ensure that the uncertainty will not spin out of control. Unique opportunities for strong and well-founded companies Although the current market conditions are uncertain, it also presents a new world of opportunities. Strong companies will see the current situation as the optimal time to expand their market share and increase their growth rates even further. Moreover, we can also expect the number of mergers and acquisitions to rise in the coming months. Although the general unemployment rate may rise in the short term, many qualified managers or specialists will get the opposite effect from the credit crisis – instead of facing unemployment, they will actually see that the competition for their skills will increase as successful companies expand in the coming months and years. | ||
| Date | 12-11-2008 | |||