The working-age population today constitutes 52.1 percent of the total. That will shrink to 50.4 percent in 2005, a loss of at least 5 million workers from an already talent-starved labor pool. The hiring challenge will be even tougher in Santa Clara County, where the 1.7 percent unemployment rate is less than half the national average. Thus, say human resource experts, companies should think toward the long-term importance of keeping at least their best workers. Valley companies seem to be following that logic, experts say.
Most firms say they are considering all alternatives.
Those options include cutting employee perks and travel, cutting executive bonuses, and transferring workers to more profitable divisions. An example is Oracle's just-announced 2 percent job reduction. Kevin Brett, a spokesman for LSI Logic, says his company knows the hiring challenge will not abate any time soon. The Milpitas-based chipmaker has not laid off a single worker, instead cutting costs by deferring executive bonuses and asking workers to take early vacations. LSI Logic is hiring engineers skilled in working with application-specific or specialty chips.