The Perfect Labor Storm Blog – a one-stop source for expert advice about current and future workforce and workplace trends from workforce and talent management thought leader Ira S Wolfe. Articles are written to be both informative and provocative, to instruct, coach, and challenge our followers. Topics include recruiting and hiring best practices. generation gaps, and innovative solutions future work trends to name just a few.  Comments are welcome and discussion encouraged.

Meet Generation R | Are you ready to hire a collaborative robot?

There is a brewing technological storm threatening to eliminate hundreds of jobs and leave millions of workers without a paycheck. Can a collaborative robot save the day? Listen to this podcast when futurists John McElligott and Ira S Wolfe discuss why robots, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), and other advanced technologies probably won’t destroy…

4 Quick Fixes to Jump Start Recruiting in 2018

What should businesses expect when it comes to recruiting in 2018? The answer is pretty simple—it’s going to be a humdinger! If there was any doubt that a shortage of skilled workers exists, 2017 extinguished it.  A combination of economic growth, falling unemployment and the lowest labor participation rate since 1978 is creating a “perfect…

New Book Warns Companies to Get Their Recruitment “Shift” Together

It’s time for business and its HR professionals to get their recruiting “SHIFT” together. In his newest book Recruiting in the Age of Googlization HR Futurist and employee selection expert Ira S Wolfe describes how the automation of jobs and work makes it seem like science fiction is taking over the workplace and is consequently disrupting traditional…

Never Too Old to Break Into the Video Game Industry

The days when video games were for kids are over. According to the ESA, 27% of gamers in the US are over 50!  Older adults are embracing games because they both fun and cognitively beneficial. A study from the International Journal of Disability and Human Development showed that the older adults who played video games showed markedly less…

VUCA Prime: An Antidote for Exponential Change?

The following is a modified excerpt from my new book “Recruiting in the Age of Googlization.” You can preorder a copy on Amazon and download an excerpt here. There’s an old story that has made its rounds: To succeed, you don’t need to outrun the bear, you just need to outrun your nearest competitor. The…

Jobs for Baby Boomers Who Aren’t Ready to Retire

Retirement from a job can be a difficult transition for some people to make. So many of us dedicate a huge chunk of our lives to our profession and even to a single company. Suddenly stopping and having nothing to do all day can be a radical lifestyle change. That’s why so many people opt…

Baby Boomers Breaking into the Technology Sector

By Guest blogger – Jess Walter, Freelance Writer Age discrimination is hopefully becoming a thing of the past. As 10, 000 Baby Boomers every day cross the 60 years old threshold, more and more of these older workers are finding technology offers them another career… and with good reason. Jobs are in high demand, and salaries are…

Exponential Change Makes Mincemeat Out of Tradition and Convention

Things are getting really bad for many legendary companies. Within a 24 hour period I received a flurry of text and email alerts accentuating the change-or-die outcomes delivered by exponential change. A text alert went out about the impending doom of one-time retail powerhouse Sears. Its stock reached an all-time low recently as it announced…

3 Things Recruiters Must Do to Stay Relevant

The world is changing rapidly and the pace of that change is accelerating. Just about everything we knew and believed about work, jobs, careers, and the workplace is being obsolete. Five millions jobs may be lost as early as 2020 according to the World Economic Forum. Many of those jobs may include recruiters. It is…

10 Things You Should Know about Automation and Jobs

Technology needs no help to disrupt work and displace people. It inherently accelerates change driven on its own momentum. The pace of that change is also accelerating. As a result, automation and jobs have been nearly synonymous.  Just about everything we knew and believed about work, jobs, careers, and the workplace is moving rapidly toward…

Recruit Elusive Talent During Extraordinary Challenging Times

The people responsible to recruit elusive talent, from the C-suite to hiring managers, are missing a once-in-a-lifetime trend. This trend encapsulates everything that is wrong with talent acquisition today. And it is going to challenge even the best recruiters and frustrate the most competent managers more in 2017. That one trend is not the rise of…

Will 2017 Be The Tipping Point for HR and Artificial Intelligence?

If artificial intelligence company acquisitions are any indication, then the answer is a resounding yes.  In fact, A.I. might be the next “land grab” with Apple, Google, Intel, Oracle, Amazon, Microsoft, GE and Twitter all buying A.I. companies last year. Some of these companies were bought for their technology they built. But others were picked…

Podcast | What is the Purpose of Business?

Purpose, vision, and mission often get bantered about in board rooms as if the words held magical powers.  They don’t. It’s the passion and action behind those words that matter.   During this podcast, my friend and colleague John Dame didn’t waste any time tackling one of the biggest concerns we hear from executives and…

How to Make 2017 Really Matter | Make Change Work

If you can’t play a single note that people want to hear, is it still worth learning to play an instrument? Seth Godin posed that question to his recent TED talk audience. He then instructs audience members to raise their right hand.  He repeats the request by asking them to raise it higher.  All comply…

Season’s Readings from Ira S Wolfe

It’s time to wrap up 2016…and what a year it was.  Now it’s a time to reflect on the past and prepare for the future. What lies ahead is unprecedented change and unlimited new opportunity for anyone who keeps an open mind and positive attitude. With that perspective I’ve prepared my Season…

10 Trends Disrupting How (and if) Recruiters Will Work

The world is changing rapidly and the pace of that change is accelerating. Just about everything we knew and believed about work, jobs, careers, and the workplace is being obsolete. Five millions jobs may be lost as early as 2020 according to the World Economic Forum. Many of those jobs may include recruiters. It is not…

Are Jobseekers Better at Finding Jobs Than Companies Recruiting Talent?

Many organizations feel like they are trying to find a needle in a growing haystack when it comes to recruiting talent. Just read the headlines and you’ll likely get a daily dose about how difficult it is for companies to find the right people.  Despite the high awareness of the impact that a growing skill gap…

Future Jobs, Future Work

What do future  jobs and the future of work look like was the focus of a recent interview I had with Rick Anthony on his Entrepreneurs Network Radio show. Like most of our conversations, we started off with a discussion about the multi-generational workforce.  And like we do so often it led off with a…

What’s Next for Talent Acquisition in 2017?

Talent acquisition has become big business. More than $240 billion are spent annually on it in the United States. What’s behind this explosive growth? The answers are nothing new. Unless you just woke up from a 25-year deep sleep, companies are in a war for talent thanks to globalization, exponential change, technology, skill shortages, baby…

Change, Autonomous Cars and TEDx

I had an idea worth sharing! Make change work for you. And I shared that idea from the red carpet to several hundred TED and TEDx fans recently (and hopefully tens of thousands more when the video is posted on TEDx’s YouTube channel). Without going into all the details, most people accept that change is…

Podcast | Millennials, Gen Z, and Technology Are Changing Normal

Whether you believe that change is going to impact your business 2 years, 5 years, or 10 years from now, I’ve got breaking news. Millennials, Gen Z, and technology are changing normal. And whatever time frame you believe you have to adapt… cut it in half. The future is happening much faster on a greater…

How Will the Millennials Vote This November?

The upcoming 2016 Presidential election is the first time that every member of the Millennial generation is eligible to vote. That makes it a good time to revisit the Millennials. For some people the Millennials have become synonymous with the “trophy generation.” In the rare chance you’re not familiar with them, they are the maligned…

Ira S Wolfe Earns Coveted Spot at TEDxLehighRiver 2016

  BETHLEHEM, Pa – SEPTEMBER 1, 2016 – TEDxLehighRiver, an independently organized TED event, will return to Miller Symphony Hall in Allentown on Saturday, September 17 from noon to 5 p.m.  TEDxLehighRiver, will include live presentations, pre-recorded TEDTalks, and networking/conversation about “Ideas Worth Sharing.” The 2016 speakers include Success Performance Solutions President and Founder Ira…

Ageism: Apparently Companies Didn’t Receive the Memo Yet!

Remember way back when….let’s say the 1980s and 1990s when 40 years old was considered middle age and 50 years old was over the hill? Living to be 90 and even 100 hundred years old has become the norm, not the celebrated exception anymore. And with longevity and an extended quality of life, all age-related…

Is It “Code Red” for Talent Management and HR?

  Talent management is in a “state of confusion.” Those were the words of Mike Haberman, a long term friend and colleague of mine. I respect Mike a lot and scheduled him for a very long overdue interview. Listen to the Podcast Here   During this brief interview we covered a lot of territory from…

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