Winners and losers. It does not require much conscious thought when you are in danger of drowning to swim toward anything that will keep you afloat, yet in the context of careers, executives often hold on to sinking industries simply because they do not trust themselves to make a change. Employers usually feel no such compunction, of course; witness the recent ruthless downsizing in the tech se…

Wouldn’t you really rather have a choice of employment offers from two or more companies? Having two offers (or more) gives you leverage when negotiating the terms of that next step. Not to mention being somewhat choosey about the actual role, the benefits, the company culture, etc. Having a choice of roles is good. That is why we are often concerned when executives rush to accept the first o…

Women appear to be making progress in increasing their share of the C-suite. Specifically, the evidence suggests that 26% of CEOs and Managing Directors in 2021 were women as opposed to 15% in 2019. [See source.] Barrett Group research supports this notion, showing an improvement from 24% to 25% in the female share for all executive categories between 2022 and 2023. [See Editor’s Note.] What f…

Introduction e-Commerce As a definition of e-commerce “commercial transactions taking place over the internet” seems a bit general. Virtually every business has this characteristic in the meantime. In fact, in this context, we usually think of the big firms that have evolved to be largely internet-based sellers of goods. Here, for example, are allegedly the largest e-commerce firms by sales (S…

It currently seems that both Europe and the US will narrowly avoid a recession, even though inflation continues to pose a threat, and interest rates are likely to rise a bit more. Still, there is tremendous life in the market for executives regardless of the economic cycle—especially in the unpublished market. In fact, we have seen 75 clients land executive roles in recent weeks. Here is a sam…

Tech stocks had a rough year in 2022: the tech-heavy NASDAQ index was down 33% (versus the overall S&P 500’s decline of “just” 20%). Consumer confidence fell in the first half and negatively impacted tech revenues before recovering. Meta made some mistakes. Interest rates rose, further dampening the party. Investors decided that other stocks represented better inflation hedges. (See Source….

Big Tech Introduction When minus 26.8% is the best performance in a peer group, clearly the group’s performance was dismal. And yet, that is how 2022 shook out for big tech stocks.   They were not alone, of course, with other tech darlings such as Salesforce or Tesla also performing poorly. In fact, the entire tech-heavy NASDAQ ended up -33% versus the more balanced S&P 500 at “j…

It is understandable when executives who might otherwise like to make a professional change hear about rising interest rates, downsizing in the tech sector, and possible recession on the horizon that some pull their heads in like a turtle and wait until it’s over… …except that missing the action completely is not a helpful career management strategy.  In fact, accessing the full market as our …

Energy Introduction Fossil Fuels in Retreat A slowing economy has reduced demand for oil in 2022 even while the supply has tightened with OPEC+ curbing production again after an increase in Q3. Global oil inventories rose as a result while refining capacity throttled back at least in the short term, in spite of which oil prices have slipped from their recent highs. (See source.) Russia’s inv…

Management Consulting Introduction When researching the management consulting industry, the first aspect one is likely to notice is its amorphous contours; as one source puts it: “Despite the relatively mature state of the market, the large variety of services (industries, functional areas, market/region focus) that span the consulting industry imply that there is no clear-cut consensus on …