My blockade of cold call sales people took yet another unexpected turn; the Project Manager in my team, who hitherto has kept her name out of the the bullseye of these firms, is now starting to receive much of the same email traffic that I receive. The first paragraphs in their latest email is revealing:

Dear (Project Manager)

Growth in the market in August indicated that competition amongst organisations for rare talent is still intense and we are still seeing an acute shortage of candidates with high demand skills.

The general demand for IT skills is likely to remain reasonably buoyant and there is a general expectation that there will be a rise in staffing costs over the next year. Based on current placements and candidates registered, average permanent salaries have increased and average Contractor pay has leveled off.

As someone in the IT industry, I know this simply isn’t true. Furthermore, this “state of the market” report is contradicted by their behaviour: they are pushing so hard because the market is indeed contracting. As mentioned in my previous posting, unemployment is on the rise. Yesterday it was stated that Britain is sliding into a recession. There is no empirical data to support the assertions made in this mail. Rather, the cold caller is trying impose their version of reality on the customer in order to stimulate demand.

This is definitely an act of desperation; denial is not just a river in Egypt. I spoke to a contractor earlier in the day (not for the purposes of hiring, mind you), who said he believes that the recruitment industry as a whole will improve after there has been a big cull.

Amen.