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THE MARKETPLACE -- LAST QUARTER 2000

We have lived through one of the most significant employment cycles for the communications profession all in one year -- the arrival of dot coms and the first wave of market corrections. It has been an amazing time for opportunism and for experiencing failure. The speed of career moves have increased, longevity is measured in months (not years) and the quality of work produced has declined. Professionals are finding -- still -- that they are in demand, no matter if they have moved several times or not.

Employers understand the market is tight, but think with the dot com shakeout that they will have an easier time filling jobs. That is simply not the case. It is still a jungle out there. I do not think employers will be able, ever again, to behave as if the power is in their hands.

Building career tracks and thinking strategically about careers is coming back in vogue. Looking for excellent mentoring and training opportunities is becoming more important as the risks inherent in dot coms become clearer. Many professionals are discovering that they are not ready to repeat their experiment with a high flying pre IPO. The notion that an executive will reap the benefits of all those stock options is now understood to be a "long shot." After the first flirtation with uncertainty and failure, many people realize that they are not gamblers and get back on track.

For a certain percentage (a minority), the start-up option has impacted their behavior fundamentally. This segment is launched in a new direction and will continue to take risk, make opportunistic decisions and, hopefully, become wealthy quickly. They are also creating new career paths, what I call the "sprint" track. The demands of young organizations are all consuming. Time is not your own and life centers around organizational imperatives. The pace is so intense that personal time is squeezed and sacrificed.

These jobs have a natural life span -- reaching the end of the race when the company goes public or is acquired or runs out of money. The time frame for a company to reach these milestones can be as short as six months. Instead of immediately looking for the next job (assuming no financial pressure) these "sprinters" take a break lasting anywhere from several weeks to several months. Well rested and refreshed, they have built up reserves to take the plunge again and start the next cycle.

Interestingly, at one point, it was considered risky to have a gap on the resume. Now, that is perfectly acceptable. Pauses are part of the new career track along with the recognition that the pace is untenable for long periods of time.

The last quarter of the year is traditionally when hiring slows down. It is true that the holiday season impacts the decision-making process. However, this market is so strong that I expect we will see employers making every effort to extend offers with start dates right at the beginning of the new year.

Salary ranges will hold for the rest of 2000. I expect that during the first quarter of 2001 there will be a surge in the pace of offers and the ranges will move up a notch. Here is where we are now. Vice Presidents of Communication are above the $200,000 mark with excellent fringes and lucrative stock programs. If the options are less attractive, the dollars move into the $225,000-$250,000 range for start-ups or newly public companies. More mature corporations offer far richer total compensation packages, well above the $300,000 level -- oftentimes with lower base salaries and layered bonus/incentive programs.

Director posts were inching into the $175,000 range by late summer, but stabilized more commonly at the $150,000 figure. That number seems to be more the average, for the moment.

Managers are earning generally below $120,000 with agency supervisors roughly in the same base salary area. Agency Directors are edging closer to $140,000 with Vice Presidents, depending upon the agency, in that same area or a bit higher, closer to $150,000. Look for the developing trend, of agencies offering stock or shared revenue from venture investments, to become more common in 2001. It is a compelling way to attract strong performers. If the stock participation programs that are brand new work well, they will be excellent components of a retention strategy.

Agencies continue to struggle to attract and keep middle-level talent. National firms with token or modest bonuses and no opportunity to offer stock will find themselves losing key, senior level talent as well. They will be attracted to the smaller agencies offering those benefits or to corporations willing (and now eager) to hire senior agency personnel (even lacking corporate experience).

The market will show more fluidity as young companies start and fail rapidly. The time frame for communications professionals suddenly available and seeking a new employer will last only about four weeks. That is one of the hiring constraints that will continue to plague corporations.