Unemployed Candidates Aren’t as Desperate as We Might Think

With news reports of unemployed candidates bombarding career fairs and ever increasing application volume it’s not surprising that many perceive today’s candidates as “desperate.” While there are definitely some desperate unemployed candidates, the vast majority are looking for a job that fits their job interests with comparable pay to their prior job. In fact, in our recent global labor market survey only one-third of the unemployed would take a job with a meager 5% pay decrease (from their prior job) and less than 10% would take a job that wasn’t aligned with their job interests. While the recession has shifted some power in the labor market from candidates to organizations, we would be remiss in assuming we can press our advantage with the labor market too much.