The myth of the human resource rarity in Bulgaria (and in other countries

The common perception nowadays is to complain about the impossibility of finding the necessary human resources in Bulgaria (and in most of the other European Union countries). It is not only that the employees are not qualified, it seems that they can only be found by depleting the stock of other companies (i.e by offering substantially higher salaries).
We position ourselfs strongly against this almost Malthusian view of the human resource market. There is no long term full employment in Bulgaria. There is at most a need for structural adjustments. During the last 20 years, the subject of the limited human resources, especially in Western Europe, has been a recurring theme. In 1989, for example in Switzerland, horrendous salaries were offered to bachelors in economics. This tendency was reversed only 3 years later. Guess why, the real estate bubble exploded which had dire implications not only on the construction industry, but also on the economy at large. 3 years later, it was almost impossible for the same graduate to find a job at any cost.

2000, another period of horrendous salaries and strong negotiating position for almost any young person, graduated or not. But the predictions of unlimited and timeless growth, "The End of History", as one book title wanted us to believe, ended in a recession. The explosion of the e-business bubble left a very high number of young stars imploding and 6 figures salaries disappearing from the horizon. The "War for Talent” ended in a war for survival, in a market in which the dominant force was, as it has been over and over, the employers and not the employee. Exit the "War for Talent", enter the "How to Write a CV better than your Colleagues" period.

The third period of strong growth has already ended with a renewed explosion of a real estate bubble. As with physical laws, similar conditions generate similar results. The banks repeated the errors of the 90th, they are left with the same problems. The rest of the economy has been impacted too. The number of bankruptcies is increasing, customers do not pay their debts, banks restrain their credits.

If we now consider the human resources, our experience shows that today's "war for talent" will end up in a blood bath, as it did previously in Western Europe. Not for the employers, but for the young generation that will have been sacrificed.

The labor market in Bulgaria can be separated into two major categories.

In the first one, international or modern service companies recruit young, "talented" graduates, not because they need them to generate value, but in prevision of the next growth phase. Better recruit now, that let these resources move to the competition. By doing so and by over paying their recruits, these companies forget that this clay has to be formed. A young graduate does not generate any value. He/she has to be managed, trained, she has to get responsibilities and make decisions and errors. Each time we recruit young consultants, we get CVs from disillusioned graduates. Their message is always the same. "I have been hired 3 months ago, they promised me everything. During the last 3 months, nobody has talked to me, I do not know what I should do. I just spent my time there”. They also forget that they put the whole market under pressure and deprive companies that would need these resources from acquiring them.

Just position yourself at the entrance of one of the famous business park in Sofia. You will see these lost souls arriving "to work" at, let say 9:30, 10:00, with the energy of the snail. First step after checking in, checking out to the next coffee house. The only value generation is for the eyes of the passer by, a catwalk like in Milan.

This generation is the generation that will built the future of the country. If the employers do not train its members and force them to generate value, they will be lost forever.

The second issue has to do with the human resources in most production companies. There, as in the modern service companies, we meet with employees who really would like to work and generate value, but are not allowed to. Their message is: “ give me 3 machines instead of one, but pay me more. Other way, I will pretend to work as you pretend to pay me”.

Some of these people are highly qualified. They have been working in Western Europe or in America. They know what they had to deliver there. They just laugh at the middle management that has not idea about management or productivity. Our studies show over and over that the productivity level is at most at 50%. This is not related to the age of the equipment or to the laziness of the employees, but to bad processes and bad management.

The increasing pressure on the salaries is starting to force the owners of the companies to think about productivity. It was OK to have 30% to 40% of employees doing nothing when they did not get paid, it is more difficult if they want some money and if the other costs are increasing. The solution is simple. Reduce the resources to the level needed less 10%. Delegate responsibility to the department heads and support them, so that they start to work. When they start to work 14 hours on a regular basis to comply with the delivery deadlines, ask them if you can support them. If the answer is, "yes provide us with additional resources", then help them optimize the processes to squeeze additional productivity. No additional resources will be needed for a very long time, as the recession is coming anyway.

This leaves us with a country in which 30% to 40% of the workforce is not generating value at all. You do not believe it, then contact us, we will be happy to demonstrate it to you. 30% to 40% of the workforce would be unemployed in Western Europe. 30% to 40% of the workforce will be unemployed if the real estate bubble explodes in Bulgaria.