Recruiting.com

Over the past couple of weeks, we've taken a tour of the various elements of the inflection point. Skipped in the process were mentions of RPOs, the changes in ATS companies, the emergence of Talent Management as a mindset and the globalization of recruiting. These are not small things.

The world of Recruiting is exploding in response to market conditions. It's virtually impossible to see the whole picture. It's like being there for the Big Bang. Everything is happening quickly.

At the root are several simple trends:

1. Population growth is leveling off creating shortages for businesses and economies that plan on continued growth.
2. In the parts of the world where technology is prolific, young people are demonstrating kinds of learning, prowess and communication skills that are unavailable to their elders.
3. Technology itself continues its rapid evolution. What was unthinkable 15 years ago is today's reality. The escalation of the pace of technology continues.
4. Computerization continues to unhinge old ways of doing things. (See this note about the automation of human functions)

That's pretty straightforward. Demographics are changing; young people are good with the tools they were reared on; the rapid pace of technological change continues; and, get out of the way of the machines.

So, with all of these dynamics in play, what's going to happen?

There is one thing you can be certain about. Everyone's experience will be different. One of the casualties of this inflection point will be the idea that the future is somehow the same, homogenous, consistent reality for everyone. Where we used to be able to look ahead with a telescope, we now get to use a kaleidoscope.

Driven by demographics, regionalization and technology's relentless push, occupations and industries will revolutionize, die and be reborn.

• It is unlikely that the West's industrial base (the factory part, not the services) will be able to learn to view their employees as actors on the digital stage. China, India and South America can not help but see things that way.
• The friction between generations in the West will continue to grow. It is just one face of the growing digital divide. But, it's the most obvious face.
• The Digital Divide will come to dominate politics and economics. You'll be able to tell which regions have "gone digital" and which have stayed industrial by looking at the Cost of Living measures. Life is better for the digital.
• In Recruiting, there will be a lot of arm waving and smoke blowing to define "the best overall solution". There won't be one. Solutions will have to be structured from a toolkit that harnesses the dynamics of the inflection point. That means that more software will be customized. Solutions that work will be tailored.
• It will be more important to know how to think about the problem than how to implement a part of the solution.

There is tremendous opportunity in this inflection point.

Read the entire series:

1. Inflection Point Defined (Eye of the Storm)
2. Inflection.2 (Sourcing)
3. Inflection.3 (Personal Publishing)
4. Inflection.4 (Job Boards)
5. Inflection.5 (Regionalization)
6. Inflection.6 (Video)
7. Inflection.7 (Social Software)
8. Inflection.8 (Powershift)
9. Inflection.9 (Wrapup...this piece)

John Sumser .-. ©2008 Two Color Hat, Inc. Santa Rosa, CA