When I graduated with my first degree in the late 80s, Trinidad and Tobago was going through a recession. Jobs were really hard to come by and I was among hundreds of young graduates competing for the few jobs there were. I remember having a conversation with one of my lecturers who said to me, it really is an employers market right now. The best thing you can do for yourself is apply to be a teacher.
We chatted a bit about what an employers market meant but I knew that I did not want to be a teacher then so I resisted and instead did a few things here and there so I did not become a burden on my family. My grandmother, who many readers will know had a great influence on my life, told me that I should learn something else to go with my fancy degree and so I applied myself to the typing and shorthand lessons she gave me and was doing gigs even before anyone knew what a gig economy was.
Over the years, and throughout my career in HR, I have seen the pendulum swing from employer to employee and then back again. The pendulum swing differs by sector, by industry and by country.
That conversation taught me that when talent is abundant, employers begin to behave differently. There is a subtle but unmistakable shift in mindset: people become more interchangeable, hiring becomes more transactional, and development becomes optional rather than essential. The urgency to retain good employees diminishes.
The employer market is back. Or at least the pendulum is swinging again in that direction. Hiring has slowed in many sectors. There is less voluntary turnover and the competition to attract and retain talent has eased. Candidates are not being as demanding or are negotiating less during the job offer phase.
An employers market typically brings more applicants for every vacancy and fewer people leaving their jobs. It often slows down promotions, internal movement, and salary growth. It gives the illusion that organizations once again control the pace and tone of the employment relationship.
The biggest risk is a gradual erosion of leadership quality. Leaders who believe employees have fewer options may revert to more authoritarian or transactional management styles. They may communicate less transparently. They may postpone difficult decisions convinced that stability is guaranteed.
This is where HR must step in. HR becomes the guardian of equilibrium. HR must remind leaders that stability is not the same as engagement, and that retention driven by limited external opportunity is not the same as retention driven by organizational loyalty.
HR must encourage leaders to stay transparent. This is the time to reaffirm the organizations purpose, to share progress toward strategic goals, and to make sure employees feel connected to something larger.
This moment also offers organizations a strategic advantage: time. When labor markets cool, the frantic pace of recruitment slows, creating space for deeper workforce planning.
All of this calls for consistency because the employers market is a temporary phase. Conditions will shift again. They always do. And employees will remember whether leaders remained respectful.
As HR leaders, our job is to steady the ship regardless of the tide. The real test of organizational maturity is not how leaders behave when talent is scarce. It is how they behave when they believe talent is abundant.