About - Recruiter’s View

Sooner or later, everything in real life influences the jobs markets. So, our topics here range all over the place.

In our search to discover and share what’s really going on, we are particularly trying to answer the questions:

  • Where will jobs be created (and why?)
  • Where will jobs be destroyed (and why?)

This is my commentary on what I see and what I think it means.

People sometimes ask my opinion, because they assume a Recruiter’s activity can be a useful indicator.

And in fact, it’s true that I can pick up on changes in the business environment months ahead of the published numbers.

Understanding the implications of those changes is the trick. Daily conversations with business leaders give me the equivalent of perpetual survey results. And talking to candidates is the perfect reality check.

Ultimately, then, my evaluation is largely formed as an extension of what many, many others have been kind enough to share with me.

So, when you think I’ve got it wrong, I encourage you to tell me what you see from your side of the mountain.

We’re all trying to figure this out together.

Thanks for being a part of our effort!

-TD

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2024 Economy – Buy The Dip

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Experts predict a recession. U.S. Manufacturing says we’re already in one. Opportunists say, “Buy the dip.” The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond released its Fifth District manufacturing survey on January 23. All the components are negative by double digits.  Employment is down hard, dropping from -1 to -15. The capacity utilization index sits at −27. …

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U.S. Debt Explosion

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It’s hard to grasp the amount of debt U.S. citizens have allowed into their lives.  Here’s a simple graph. In 1989, Michael Lewis published Liar’s Poker, his famous book describing the rise, then collapse of Solomon Brothers in 1987. Early in the book (Chapter 4) Lewis quotes Henry Kaufman, a.k.a. Dr. Gloom: “One of the…

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PNC Moving To Next Level

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The Prince of Darkness is now Banker of the Year.  He’ll use M&A to put PNC on the SIFI list, because deposits are flowing uphill.  And scale matters.  (Stay with me.  This will all make sense.) Bill Demchak has a history of getting things done.  He might have been a little aggressive when he hit…

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Bank Consolidation Continues

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Last year, U.S. banks closed 2,000 more branches than they opened.  This year, the Too-Big-To-Fail Banks have cut their payrolls by a combined 20,000 employees.  Things are a little different for JPMorgan Chase, the largest and most profitable bank in the U.S. Last March, we began watching the collapse of… Silicon Valley Bank Signature Bank Silvergate Bank…

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