Takeover Unfiltered

Brianna Rooney:
Hello? Hello. Hello. Welcome to talent takeover. Unfiltered, where we are going to tackle today. Layoffs bump, bump, bump, bump. how you doing Taylor?

Taylor Bradley:
I'm good. I'm good on this Thursday. How are you?

Brianna Rooney:
Oh, good. Yeah, actually I I'm I'm feeling good. I'm feeling energized. I'm feeling fresh. Took another cold shower today.

Taylor Bradley:
Oh, good for you. I know that's your jam in the morning, but I mean, we've had a lot going on this week, so I am like, this is why I work for her. Y'all she showed up today, given all the that we've got going on this week. Good and bad, but just still shows up with a smile on her face and it's like, okay, how can you not mirror that? It's like, whatever. I, I was upset about something. It's like, she starts talking crazy and being Brianna that I love talking about tattoos and all of the things that we talk about, I can't tell y'all what kind of tattoos, but or where. Um, but anyways,

Brianna Rooney:
Yeah, well, we're, here's

Taylor Bradley:
Wonderful a tangent about why I love my boss. That was not well, thank you.

Brianna Rooney:
Okay. I wasn't, I wasn't stopping you.

Taylor Bradley:
No, she wasn't. I'm like, Ooh, I should roll with this. This should be an episode.

Brianna Rooney:
Well, technically it was an episode because we, we debunked one of the, one of the things where it says pretty much to suck up to your boss. So I, I like that. You're you're performing that duty. Thank you. yeah,

Taylor Bradley:
You're welcome. You're welcome. Um, well guys, make sure that you stay on to hear our broke to boss tip of the week. As always, I say it's a good one, but I think given that this one is this, this episode, we're really gonna hear a lot from Brianna. She has a lot of good insight here and, um, the broke to boss tip stem from that. So nice. I think you guys are gonna enjoy it. Let's jump right in.

Speaker 3:
Welcome to talent takeover

Taylor Bradley:
Unfiltered.

Speaker 3:
When it comes to working hard and keeping it real, we know our. Self-care happiness, inner peace and time. I'm Brianna Rooney. And this is Taylor Bradley. Hey y'all. And we have thrived in chaos and turned it into in art form. So, Taylor, what are we doing here today?

Taylor Bradley:
We're here to give you a raw under the hood view of all things recruiting and finally give credit where credit is due to a long underrated industry. That's full of quote unquote experts.

Speaker 3:
All right. Well then let's take this show to the road

Brianna Rooney:
When

Taylor Bradley:
Kick

Brianna Rooney:
It off. Ugh, let's jump because I you're gonna have to calm, calm me down. Probably I already feel my, my butt rising from the seat. Uh, get the

Taylor Bradley:
Stress balls or whatever balls it is that you like, get the stuff that you get in your hands and you squeeze it during meetings. Go get one of those. I know you've got several,

Brianna Rooney:
I I'm in a different office, but I have my pen that I'm, I'm pushing pretty, uh, pretty firmly into my hands. So I think I'm good. uh, so, okay. Layoffs. Yeah, there's been a lot of them, but we, we, we talk about like first talk about COVID like when, when that hit, that was scary. Like to me, like holy moly, like we lost a lot of our clients. Everyone pretty much was like, oh, port. And like just started freaking the out. And I get it cuz it's like, we didn't know what was going on. I mean, I think back to that and just like, oh my God. And my staff was the biggest it had ever been. We got hit with remote. Like it was just, it was a whirlwind, right? So, but we survived that. And even in the midst of that, I opened two more companies.

Brianna Rooney:
So anyways, um, but we saw that big, very, very large corporations got hit on their because they weren't being responsible with cash. They didn't have reserves. And it came, it was really well known that it came out that apple was the only giant corporation that said, Hey, look, we got five years worth of reserves that shows responsibility. And the other ones just got head on their. I mean, I think, I think about how many clients that, that had hundreds of millions of dollars in funding that wanted to hire and just be irresponsible about it. And like I put time limits on and it was like, wow, you guys laid off. No. So Taylor, how did let's just take it back to the COVID for you on the RPO side? How did that hit you guys? Like what companies?

Taylor Bradley:
So it's interesting because the companies that we saw, so I actually have had people ask me, um, here recently, given what's going on, okay. Companies are laying off people. We're in the B we're in the business of people. That's what we do is find people, jobs. So instantly people are like, how does that affect you? Well, in my RPO world, if the industry that we supported, because, you know, we acted as talent acquisition teams internally for corporations, some of them very, very large corporations that didn't have their own. And so if their business is unaffected, therefore were unaffected. But in the example that I gave earlier in one of our other episodes where, you know, one of our biggest clients normally in consistently year, over year was in the airline industry and they got completely rocked. And so when they had layoffs and business slow down and they had hiring freezes that in turn then would impact us on the RPO side because most people were hired to support a specific client. And so if you were a client again, you know, if they went away, terminated a contract or the contract just ended and they didn't res resign, then you're therefore like, okay, I need to go work on a new client. You don't, there's no internal recruiting where you're just kind of sitting there. It's like your, your job stability is dependent upon there being clients for you to support.

Brianna Rooney:
Right.

Taylor Bradley:
If that makes sense.

Brianna Rooney:
Yeah. No. So for sure,

Taylor Bradley:
Go ahead.

Brianna Rooney:
Oh, so I was gonna say, so what we saw pretty quickly is we saw the smart companies that actually was like, wait a minute, we have money. We have a product to build like, why are we stopping? Why are we freaking out? Because everyone else is freaking out. Like, that's the whole thing, right? It's like, once you start screaming, everyone else starts screaming, sheep. So then there was like, well, let's take advantage of this because now all of a sudden candidates are scared. Right. So if it's the candidates are scared, then obviously it's a company driven market. Okay, cool. So let's, let's go take advantage of the people that aren't hiring and hire some really good people. So then we're back in business. Again, it only took a couple months, right? And so like we calmed down and it was good. Then we saw in the last year and a half, there was record amount of VC funding given, ever.

Brianna Rooney:
And it was double the amount, which is insane because supposedly we're in this pandemic, right. Mm-hmm where this money come from. So all of a sudden people are like, oh, it's raining money. We saw people buying pools, houses that they couldn't afford. Like all this was happening. Mm-hmm , I can't even get a gardener to come to my house or a pool guy, because he is like, he's way, they're way too busy right now. They got all these other people. You can't even get a trampoline because you know, so many people bought trampoline, like all this and I first

Taylor Bradley:
World problems.

Brianna Rooney:
Oh yeah, right. So I was like, oh my God, wait a minute. Where's all this money coming from. Like, do we all of a sudden just get an influx of money or are we just being irresponsible? So as we see these layoffs, now it shows how irresponsible they decided to be with their money, as opposed to when COVID hit, they should have learned something, used it and continue to have it. Instead. They're like, oh, open checkbook again, check let's continue to be irresponsible and not learn from our mistakes of other corporations. So the layoffs that are hitting right now and why I feel so, strongly about this, not freaking out is because it's the ones that went public in the last couple years. It's a tech companies that had all the big time cash and that still went forward with all of their big lofty plans.

Brianna Rooney:
And now they're laying off because now obviously this, the, the market is super down and they're like, oh. Maybe we didn't need all these employees. Oh wait, whenever you go public, a lot of times they make you pump up your staff. Mm-hmm , you know, because it looks better on their books. Okay. Well now you get caught with your pants down. I don't feel sorry for you. So I feel sorry for the, the candidates that fell for the bigger companies and the bigger packages, the bigger equity and all, I definitely feel sorry for them, but like we heard in one of our past episodes, it's like, if you're getting paid over market or over what anyone else is offering, I'm sorry. It's not because you're awesome. It's because the company's being irresponsible and that's where the layoffs are coming from.

Taylor Bradley:
And I think that is such good insight. Like that should almost be a broke to boss tip of the week or tip of the month, because that's something that you gave me perspective on that whenever we talked about it, that in a previous episode, I was like, oh my gosh, that's so true. And you as a business owner, have a lot of insight into that and kind of what some of those things can mean because people do they're out here in the streets like, oh, I am this. I'm getting it. It's not even like 20 or $30,000. What we're seeing, it's like a hundred thousand dollars in salary increases. And mm-hmm, stuff, crazy salaries that we're seeing specifically in the recruiting industry that I have never seen in my entire career. Yeah. Um, but I, I think that there's a theme here kind of like what you said about the, those tech companies that bulked up their workforces, the pandemic helped a lot of them experience this growth. Um, and the sector's really what that I think about whenever I think of who made this colossal mistake. It's online retail and work from home tech.

Brianna Rooney:
Yeah. Yeah. No, for sure. And then, you know, I hate, I hate to say this recruiters, you know, you, I love you guys, but we're really overpaid right now. Um, so because when COVID hit, they like idiots let go of their TA staff. They let go of recruiters first. They always do, because for some reason they think we don't matter. They let go of us. And then all of a sudden, oh, wait, we've all this money again, just kidding. We need you. And then all of a sudden recruiters was like, oh, we got power. Well, you guys pay me more and amen. Right. We did it. Mm-hmm we now our salaries are pumped up the Wazo, however, that's eventually gonna come back and buy us in the. Just like it is that we're paying software engineers so much over market and it's a supply and demand thing, you know, let's not even get started on gas. Right. So it's like, uh, it eventually gonna course correct. And we can't get upset when it does.

Taylor Bradley:
Absolutely. I completely agree with that. And I think that that's good for people to be prepared that if you recently, within this last year got offered a salary, accepted a job that was just like, literally like a hundred grand more than you're making now. Yeah. We see it on

Brianna Rooney:
Time.

Taylor Bradley:
Yeah. And I'm assuming you've adjusted your way of life accordingly, right?

Brianna Rooney:
Yep. Oh my God.

Taylor Bradley:
It's, that's something to really think about is that, you know, when the bubble pops, because it will, it's not sustainable. And it's like when that bubble pops and things do kind of steady out, I don't know. I just think that there's a lot of people that are gonna be in for, I'm trying to dance around a way to say this. And I don't know why I give a, cuz we're always so open and honest and transparent about everything else, but it's just, if you've adjusted your way of life to a salary that you know is astronomical for the industry that you're in, because you've been in that industry proceed with caution. And then to me, it's like, I, you put that money in the bank because it won't always be that way.

Brianna Rooney:
So, okay. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna tear up, but, but I did tear up when this happened. So I was, I was just came back on vacation and Diego who, my son who's eight. Uh, he, he, he hits me with some questions, but one of the questions was what's your biggest money mistake. And I literally started tearing up cause I'm like, should I can't believe you asking me this question? But my biggest mistake was I adjusted the way I lived by how much I made. And I did it rather quickly. And so like, like you just said, I got, I'm getting caught with my pants down. Right. It's like, okay. Like you constantly do more, spend more when you make more. So yeah. Like I, I mean, I hate the B word budget. Woo. S word say, woo. But God, we have to do it right now. It's just, and we should have always done it. And if I could, you know, really give one advice for life advice, is that live by your means and save so save so you can stop working sooner. So you can do that mega vacation in three years instead of every year, you know, stuff like that. It's like, uh, anyways, I don't wanna go down that rabbit hole, but you know, no,

Taylor Bradley:
I'm still sitting over here, like in awe that Diego asked you that question,

Brianna Rooney:

Taylor Bradley:
An eight year old. Like that is a very, very like adult mature thing to ask. And the fact that I I'm just how I've gotta know more about that. Maybe we'll save it for offline, but I'm just like, my son is eight as you know. And he, he doesn't ask me those things, but I'm really interested to, what do you share with him? How, what would make girl

Brianna Rooney:
To ask you that? Yeah, I, I, one of 'em also in that question was, have you ever been arrested? I told him so, um, yeah, I share, I said, look, if you're gonna ask me the question, then I need you to be responsible to not tell people what I'm telling you. However, this is, this is, this is the real real. Yeah. Yeah.

Taylor Bradley:
But then an eight year old even thinks to ask that question though. Yeah. That's kind what I'm stuck on. Like that's like amazing to me. So, um, when we talk about, you know, the reasons for the current market inflation, rising interest rates, geopolitical issues, it's contributed to this rollercoaster, what would you say you foresee in the next six months? And this is truly just your opinion and my own curiosity. Yeah.

Brianna Rooney:
Um, I feel, and I, and I think we needed this. I feel that it's gonna the candidate and the company driven, uh, candidate driven market is going to even out a little bit and almost not equal with companies, but I think we're gonna give companies a little more power back, which I honestly think they deserve right now because I think companies take a lot of the brute from for things. Um, and like when you said, uh, what hit me is when you said it's not sustainable, even some of these benefits that candidates are demanding is not sustainable. Like that's what you, I think everyone needs to reflect, cuz everyone's always like, well, what about me? What do I get? And I, I mean, yeah, I, I have bias cause I've been a business owner for so long, but what happened with me, I'll be real real right now with techies is like, I always paid really, really well.

Brianna Rooney:
Like I was a recruiter. I was not a business person. Right. So I was always like, I know what I would want. Right. So I always paid above market and I, you know, I, we worked really hard for it. Right. So, but when I had people with me for 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years, which again was great, I started to kind of lose money on them at, at one point in time where I was like, wow, I love my people that are here, but they're the ones that are hurting my overall business. How do I fix that? But it's cuz I kept giving more. They kept wanting more and they gladly took it, you know? And, and again, we had a great relationship and, but it got harder and harder. So I think that that's just, if I'm gonna foresee the future, we're gonna, we might see some benefits drop, otherwise they're gonna lay off. So I'd be really curious to know our company is going to ease back on all these luxurious benefits or are they just gonna lay off and keep running lean? Uh, I have a feeling they're gonna just keep running lean.

Taylor Bradley:
Yeah. I mean, you just gave me chills saying that about which way it's like this path or this path. Um, the article that I was reading, you know, provided some stats from the us bureau of labor statistics and said that, you know, the tech sector still bright long term. Um, and it's never been more entangled with both personal and work life. So it, the forecasted basically that the number of tech jobs, including web developers and software engineers is expected to continue growing in this next decade. Yeah. And that the next few quarters or more could be a bit bumpy for those in the industry, but basically just hold on

Brianna Rooney:
Because exactly. I, I agree. Yeah, for sure. I, I think it's gonna be the same thing that happened with COVID where it's like, yeah. We, people freaked out for, you know, one to six months and then we just kept going on with our, with our daily life.

Taylor Bradley:
Yeah. And

Brianna Rooney:
Those companies do better.

Taylor Bradley:
Those companies that you mentioned that have been financially responsible, they can actually ramp up. It's like the perfect time for them to ramp up. They're hiring right now.

Brianna Rooney:
Mm-hmm yeah. It, I, I think about this, unfortunately didn't happen, but like, you know, that the big housing crash that happened a while ago, like, like we were too young, right. To take advantage of it. Right. Like, so I always remember, Ugh, I gotta save my cash for, and that happens again. It's gotta happen again. Right. You know? And so when the pandemic hit, I'm like, okay, I'm ready now. But it was like, oh wow. The housing market went up. Okay. I'm confused.

Taylor Bradley:
yeah, no, I mean, that's a big one too that I'm like, okay, I'm starting to see some, some decreases there. Cause I still get these notifications on oh yeah. Houses and stuff locally. And I'm I'm I always watch for trends in all industries. I'm not a subject matter expert per se in any of them, but I'm just always curious. So I always watch for those different trends and, and like to get those notifications,

Brianna Rooney:
Lovely read, keep it, read people. Oh yeah. Ugh. That honestly, that should be an episode on like how you, you know, talk about how we stay current. We talked about that, that awful article. But, um, but you know, but like, but that is like any industry you're in, especially the recruiting one, you have to read, you have to see trends. You have to understand, you have to know where to fish, you know? Yeah. Anyway.

Taylor Bradley:
Well, and that, that actually leads us perfectly into the broke to boss tip of the week, which is read all you can about your industry, your market, and just the world in general, regularly, keep up with your industry, trade publications, websites, bloggers, and business thought leaders.

Brianna Rooney:
Wow. So for everyone to know, I never know her broke to boss tip. That was awesome. We like nailed that one.

Taylor Bradley:
Yeah. And then we perfectly segued into that

Brianna Rooney:
Air high five

Taylor Bradley:
Snaps. We're doing the snaps over here, ring the gong that some people heard in one of our first episodes, which I think is hysterical. That may be a

Brianna Rooney:
Moment. That is a gong moment. And I should have it in here. Scare people. yeah, they would listening.

Taylor Bradley:
Are you still listening?

Brianna Rooney:
Wake em up. Love that. Oh, another fun episode. God, thank you. Thank you all for listening. You know, we really appreciate, you know, apple podcast. If, if you're listening to do some reviews on that, uh, and definitely subscribe to the show cuz we are here every Tuesday

Taylor Bradley:
And if there's any topics you'd like us discuss, feel free to reach out on LinkedIn. We would love to hear from you guys. If there's anything that we discuss that just really hit home for you or you'd love to talk about further, let us know. We'd be happy to have conversations as well. We love this.

Brianna Rooney:
Love being inspired. Awesome. See you next Tuesday.

Taylor Bradley:
Bye y'all.