Recruitment lessons from the dot-com era

摘要

In the late nineties, competition for highly skilled technology workers was fierce. During the dot-com boom, Internet companies were offering five-figure signing bonuses, ridiculous perks, flex hours, social outings, fast advancement, and all the professional development their employees could handle. In Silicon Valley in particular, companies were moving heaven and earth to out-bid each other as the search for skilled workers intensified. Then the bubble burst. Almost overnight, the supply and demand of workers returned to a semblance of equilibrium. What we can learn from this frantic era, however, is how companies can approach innovative recruitment and retention strategies in a time of labour shortages. We can apply these lessons to today's recruitment situation in our industry.