Direct marketers who changed jobs last year now realize one thing: They should have done it the year before.
A new survey by Smith Hanley Associates, Inc. shows that job offers made by consulting and Internet-related businesses were much lower than they were in 2000. The average offer was only 11.8% over a person’s existing salary, compared with 27.5% during the prior year.
Those percentages were largely a function of demand.
In 2000, “Direct marketers had an incredible window of opportunity to move into faced-paced, but sometimes risky, Internet and consulting businesses,” said Linda Burtch, senior managing Partner, Midwest Practice at Smith Hanley, in a statement. “With the business cycle slowdown in 2001, many of these professionals not have a firsthand understanding of the risk.”
Many professionals who lost high-paid jobs last year are still seeking employment. Companies are reluctant to hire them at lower salaries, but the picture should improve for them this year, according to Smith Hanley.
“We anticipate that the recovery will take place over several months and the demand for direct marketers will continue to build, driven by the retail, pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods industries,” Burtch added.
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