Job Hunting
Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Elaine Misonzhnik
At Developers Diversified, which recently welcomed several new employees to its property management department, human resources professionals seek new hires who have strong experience in the retail sector, says Zieleniec. Developers Diversified prefers they have expertise in two property types, shopping and lifestyle centers; since “our people handle a lot of GLA.”
Zieleniec adds, Developer's Diversified's stringent hiring requirements were in place before the current market downturn.
Meanwhile, the scrutiny those highly sought after asset managers and leasing professionals face when changing jobs won't necessarily translate into higher compensation packages. It's more about having a sense of security in a down market, says Baron.
Even then, those who have the opportunity to take better jobs are content to stay put, Kreiss notes, either because they have concerns of being the last person to be hired and therefore the first person to be asked to leave or because they have reservations about not being able to recoup the value of their homes should they have to relocate.
“In the past, relocation has been difficult,” says Kreiss. “But now, if somebody owns a house, they don't want to take a loss on it. We haven't seen that in a long time.”
A waiting game
While development departments are expected to continue to downsize for the foreseeable future, Kreiss doesn't believe average salaries in the retail sector will fall as well; instead they will stabilize.
At the same time, those development professionals who might find themselves out of a job in the current economic climate may want to look to real estate service providers or expanding retail chains for job opportunities.
One positive sign is that Developers Diversified remains committed to recruiting on college campuses, according to Zieleniec. This summer it hired five people from its management training program and is on target to hire three new graduates in 2009.
On the other hand, some firms have no choice but to let people go. “At the start of the downturn people still had the mindset that talent is hard to come by, but now the scarcity has gone,” explains Baron. “And developers just don't have the choice — they are trying to save cash.”
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