It wasn't so long ago that employers were right to believe that they were driving the jobs market. I'm not just talking about the last recession, but even further back through the boom times of the nineties and noughties, writes Clive Jefferys of recruiter JMA Network.
Back then every job seeker had to secure their own career chances and work hard to win a hirer's offer.
Before the Internet the knowledge of where new jobs existed lay squarely with the hirers and their advertisers. It seems incredible that trade magazines used to carry 60, 70, 80 pages of job adverts, often every fortnight. Then the jobsites were created, using the web to carry job information direct to candidates. This sparked a revolution that has slowly turned advantage to the worker.
During the 2008 recession unemployment refused to rocket upwards, barely exceeding 2 million (half of the grim early 1990s). Ultra low interest rates kept companies in business, people in their jobs and houses. This was a good thing and the landscape of employment is now very different.
Today's jobseeker can pick and choose who gets attention. It's much like shopping for a new car from identical car showrooms. Let's say you want to buy a Ford Focus and whichever dealership you visit, the product and pricing is identical, each one looks lovely, shiny and new. So who gets the deal?
Today our buyer gets to pick the lucky winner based on other, often intangible, benefits on offer. Better support from the service department, extra warranties, use of hire cars, bottles of champagne, maybe a free Little Mix CD if that tickles your fancy.
Yet in the 1960s when new cars were in short supply, people considered themselves lucky to get one and would wait six months for delivery.
Not so today. New cars and new jobs are ten-a-penny.
So if you want to sell a car or hire a new member of staff, the only solution is to work harder to get the deal.
It's not just about money. The benefits are more important - flexible hours, home working, pensions, healthcare, gym membership, longer holidays and better working environments all count too.