Firms fear 'resume tsunami' striking them on recovery

According to the survey, after struggling with downsizing decisions amid the downturn, human resource executives globally have new concerns about building up of a resume tsunami, which may hit once the economy turns and employees begin to consider new opportunities.

“Once recovery begins to take hold, business executives and talent leaders can expect a ‘resume tsunami’ as voluntary turnover rises with leaders and workers with critical skills seeking new opportunities,” Deloitte LLP Consulting Principal (Human Capital) Jeff Schwartz said.

“The depth and quality of retention planning today will likely separate the talent winners from the talent losers tomorrow,” Schwartz added. The survey says when the economy eventually recovers it would result in heightened competition among companies to keep and recruit critical talent.

APAC region ahead
The survey revealed that Asia-Pacific (APAC) region’s HR executives were already ahead, with 48 per cent of APAC talent leaders reporting their companies had a retention plan ready for the economic rebound.

The percentage is greater than companies in both the Americas (30 per cent) and  Europe, the Middle East and Africa region (EMEA) (29 per cent), it added.

The report titled, ‘Managing Talent in a Turbulent Economy: Clearing the Hurdles to Recovery,’ tracked the way business leaders were shifting their talent priorities and strategies to meet the challenges of today’s economy and their plans to clear the hurdles to economic recovery. The survey said the number of executives who said the worst is yet to come has declined significantly since the previous survey. At the same time, the group who believed the worst is behind us has doubled, it added.

Further, nearly two-thirds of surveyed executives (65 per cent) are highly concerned about losing  high-potential talent in the year after the recession ends.

Meanwhile, cutting costs still remains the top strategic priority, with 56 per cent of executives ranking cutting and managing costs as their top strategic issue.

Interestingly, as many as 42 per cent of HR executives have put reducing employee headcount at the top of their list of current talent priorities.

Despite cost-cutting measures, nearly half of executives and talent managers surveyed (47 per cent)say their companies plan to recruit more critical talent to manage the current economic environment.