Rating: 
Summary: Thwarting Impending Crisis
Review: Herman and Gioia early on identified a critical problem the workforce is facing: a labor shortage. With downsizing and growth in new sectors comes the inevitable problem of a labor force that is not able to meet the current demands.
Their insightful book offers strategies for companies to protect and grow their greatest asset--- people. Impending Crisis identifies which areas will be greatest hit by the labor shortage as well as viable solutions that will abate the situation.
This thoughtful, well-organized and thorougly researched book is an eye-opener. Smart organizations will pay attention to the issue, provide every executive, manager and supervisor with a copy of this book and use Herman's and Gioia's book to avert an impending crisis.
Rating:
Summary: Start Protecting Yourself Now!
Review: Age wave demographic trends will cause industry wide shortages for skilled workers. HR professionals will face unprecedented challenges to manage this human capital dilemma. This book will help you build the business case for workforce stability and improve you ability to attract and retain the most talented people.
Rating:
Summary: Wrong But That's A Good Thing
Review: As consultants very often do, this author has relied on statistics and the outside-the-picture view consultants inevitably have, and has come to the wrong conclusion. I think he's wrong about the nature of the impending crisis because he is basing his theory on the assumption that baby boomers are going to retire in large numbers. Most baby boomers I know are never going to retire because they can't afford to. They are supporting kids in college, elderly parents and a lifestyle that they refuse to give up unless they are forced to by becoming one of the increasing number of 55+ people who are being laid off so employers can avoid paying their benefits. These laid off people are not finding jobs at all or if they are lucky enough to find jobs they are jobs that pay far less than the ones they had. Many employers are reducing or cutting off medical benefits for retired people and medical costs are so high people are having to get whatever kind of job then can to pay them.
Many jobs are going overseas and many more will. So a lot of the jobs the author projects will be a crisis to fill, won't because there are going to be far fewer jobs in general. What I see happening is widespread unemployment and the creation of a new underclass of unemployable people. So in part I guess your take on the author's theory depends on your view of how our economy is likely to go and no one, even expert economists, know that. It's all theoretical guesswork.
I think the jobs that may boom are minimum wage jobs. Middle class jobs will remain fewer than the people qualified to fill them as they are now because many baby boomers will not be able to retire like their parents did and because many more of these jobs will be going overseas. The minimum wage job boom will be resolved by making illegal immigrants legal. There is already legislature proposed to do that.
I see a situation in the future where college graduates who can't find the work they trained for as well as baby boomers who can't retire and can't afford medical care will immigrate in increasingly larger numbers in order to find work and benefits, especially to countires that offer the kinds of benefits the USA seems to be determined to eliminate. I think we will see reverse migration, with many disenchanted US citizens going to greener pastures abroad. I see immigration to Canada, New Zealand, Australia, European countries and even Third World countries like India who are taking over yet another American industry, software development. I know people who are applying for jobs in Bangalore and who intend to immigrate to India in order to be employed.
Yet I must say I like seeing how popular this book is and how much it is getting the attention of employers. I think it may do some good by scaring employers into treating their employees like human beings and it may prevent them from continually laying them off when there is the slightest dip in coporate profits. It may cause them to act responsibly toward their employees and to think about the long term effects of the savage behavior they have shown in recent years. Some employers I know are saying they are going to stop pressuring their staff to work long hours and weekends, they are going to leave their benefits alone and they are going to consider their desire to telecommute more seriously. So I applaud this book because it may help the much abused American worker.
Rating:
Summary: Practical, timely, and sensible advice
Review: At this time of a soft economy and high unemployment, it's easy for employers and managers to get complacent about recruitment and retention. If they would just take time to go through this highly readable and engaging book, they'd realize how risky that is. The authors manage to draw attention to this problem without "crying wolf" - they back up their assertions with facts, and they offer a wide range of solutions that are well within the reach of all employers. Short-sighted managers who believe there will always be enough "warm bodies" to fill jobs needn't read this book, but everyone else should.
Rating:
Summary: An action plan for employers to avoid the crunch
Review: Finally, a book that connects the dots with all the data that supports what I've been experiencing all along as a small business owner: We're in an employee crunch that won't go away unless we as employers do some long-term planning NOW. Despite all the media hype about the highly qualified people on the street currently looking for work, I've been frustrated for the past few years in finding the qualified, productive few to fill the slots we have. Herman, Gioia, and Olivo explain why. Makes good sense!But they don't stop with theory and statistics. (Granted, there are plenty of charts, facts, and numbers. But I liked those-adds credibility. I want authors to give me proof rather than platitudes.) They outline an action plan for employers to make sure they don't get caught in the crunch. I'm handing the book to my general manager and telling him to implement immediately. By the way, I liked the readable style. Great pullouts of the key ideas. Easy to skim. You could even hand this book to a department supervisor or manager to cull ideas to correct department recruitment, retention, and productivity problems. Although it addresses big-picture issues of strategic planning, it certainly gets down to the details of the do-now-today stuff . Dianna Booher, author of 40 books, including Speak with Confidence, Communicate with Confidence, and E-Writing
Rating:
Summary: Start Protecting Yourself Now!
Review: Finally, what I have been telling many of my clients, has been written about in a very readible form. IMPENDING CRISIS tells it like it is...with no posturing or fluff. It is really a wake-up call for anyone who has responsibility for ensuring a company has the workforce needed to compete in today's world...and who doesn't have that responsibility. This book is not just for HR executives...it is really for CEO's CFO's and General Managers who want to be ahead of the curve when the labor shortage hits. I have given this book to several of my clients who need an objective, realistic view of the upcoming labor market and what to do to keep people.
Rating:
Summary: This is really a wake up call for all companies
Review: Finally, what I have been telling many of my clients, has been written about in a very readible form. IMPENDING CRISIS tells it like it is...with no posturing or fluff. It is really a wake-up call for anyone who has responsibility for ensuring a company has the workforce needed to compete in today's world...and who doesn't have that responsibility. This book is not just for HR executives...it is really for CEO's CFO's and General Managers who want to be ahead of the curve when the labor shortage hits. I have given this book to several of my clients who need an objective, realistic view of the upcoming labor market and what to do to keep people.
Rating: 
Summary: Author Ignores Several "Wildcards"
Review: Frankly, I sure as heck hope this scenario comes to pass, but have serious skepticism about it. As a new 2003 graduate of a prestigious university who is utterly and completely unemployed, with virtually no interest in my considerable talents and skills, I wonder about the future of white collar America. The author makes many rash assumptions and takes BLS stats as if they were the gospel truth. Look back at BLS projections for 1992-2002 if you want to see how fast things can change. Not even close to what actually transpired. He assumes perfect economic growth on the level of the late 90s, extrapolated out over the next 10-20 years. This is simply not feasible in an era of globalisation. The biggest wild card is offshoring. An unbelievable amount of work will be sent overseas in the next 5-10 years. By some estimates, over ten million jobs could go out of the country, with over half of these being white collar and professional in nature. That sucks up the shortage right there. In addition, a subpar job creation pattern, economic slowdowns, and an exponential growth in immigration will remove even more labor need. I anticipate that there will not be a shortage, but persistent and growing unemployment. He also places blame on the American education system for not creating enough skilled and educated people. What world has he been living in? College attendance is up dramatically over the past 10-20 years and graduate attendance is surging as well. If anything, the skills defects will stem from an era of new graduates from 2001-2003 and indefinately beyond that have been left behind. A huge number of America's youth, ranging from HS dropouts to Ivy League graduates, are either unemployed or severely underemployed by an economy that has gotten so picky that they will not train. A major step in the career development of those in their early and mid twenties has been eliminated. Are the future business leaders of tomorrow supposed to develop by waiting tables with advanced degrees? This is further worsened by the fact that many offshored jobs are entry level in nature. We are training the Indians to replace our youth.
Rating:
Summary: Lots of practical advice
Review: Heard IMPENDING CRISIS by Roger E. Herman, Thomas G. Olivo
and Joyce L. Gioia, a book whose subtitle says it all: TOO MANY
JOBS, TOO FEW PEOPLE . . . though there's a fair amount of
theory relating to strategic planning, I liked it because of its practical
approach to things that can be done on a daily basis . . . this is
extremely useful for any individual or firm interested in ideas on how
to improve recruitment and retention, as well as about how to deal
with productivity problems. Some of what the authors write may sound too obvious; e.g., employees
should be able to say:
1. I am proud to work for my company.
2. Our company has a stated set of values or guiding principles.
3. Our company has clearly articulated its values and beliefs.
4. Our hiring practices evaluate if new hires will work well in our
culture.
5. Our company places a high priority on training and development. Yet because these recommendations are backed up with actual
research findings, I tend to believe that they make sense in almost
any work situation.
Rating:
Summary: A home run
Review: Herman, Gioia and Olivo have delivered a very wholistic, well-researched, and actionable package to organizations serious about managing the whole life cycle of talent equity. It effectively provides a credible framework for everyone from executive to department managers. A must-buy for your team.
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