Don't Get Cocky

Last Friday the U.S. government released its unemployment figures for August. Unemployment rose to 6.1%, the highest it's been in about 5 years. (though it's right about at the 6% level we considered "full employment" only a few years ago -- if you're wondering how 6% unemployment can be considered "full employment," that's another discussion for another time) Some leaders might look at the increase in unemployment and think "Ah ha! I have the upper hand now! In a weakening labor market, my employees have less leverage and I can do what I want with them! Muahahahahahahaha!!!"

Think again.

There are a couple points beyond the headlines that leaders of Creatives should keep in mind. This isn't exactly the weak labor market you might be thinking it is.

First of all, the biggest drops came in manufacturing. These are pretty much non-Creative jobs. Some of that is due to reduced consumer demand (because of other economic issues), some is due to jobs moving off-shore (though not as many as politicians would have you believe), and some is due to increased productivity. But whatever the reason, as long as you're leading Creatives, these particular job losses don't really affect how you do business.

Of course, as you look at the figures, you also see a pretty big drop of 53,000 jobs since July in "Professional and Business Services," and this is where many Creatives DO get counted. According to the Labor Department's report, though, about 2/3 of those are in the "temporary help" category. So, when it comes to full-time Creatives anyway, the labor market doesn't seem that much more squishy than it was last month, and as a result, you'd best not act like you can treat your workers any way you want just because they have no other options...because they do.

Something to remember also, even if the labor market does get worse: really talented Creatives will always have other opportunities. If they're that good, someone else will want them if you give them a reason to leave. And of course, the really talented ones are the ones you want to hang onto. So don't ever start thinking you have the upper hand over your Creatives because of market conditions. Your goal is not to have employees quit (well, unless you have to cut your workforce...and even then, you want to keep your best employees).

If you get cocky just because of what you hear in the news, you're likely to lose talented employees who can't easily be replaced.