Dr John Sullivan Talent Management Thought Leadership
Rather than being constant, the supply of talent often suddenly increases after a recent event. So in order to maximize its impact, a recruiting strategy must have the capability of identifying what I call these “Sudden Recruiting Opportunities.” These SROs are sudden and unexpected surges in talent availability.
And if you’re not currently aware of it, we are currently facing an SRO today. This current opportunity is caused by three driving factors: high gas prices, household/healthcare affordability, and TSA turnover.
Smart recruiting leaders should be aware that failing to add this sudden recruiting opportunity to their targets can become a major problem. In our volatile world, where everything is continually changing, a rigidly designed recruiting strategy that fails to add new focuses throughout the year (to meet these sudden talent surges) will cause the unnecessary loss of top-quality applicants who are seldom active job seekers. To facilitate your response to this current SRO, the remainder of this article highlights today’s top three drivers of talent availability and how recruiting leaders should respond to each.
Opportunity driver #1 – High gas prices are creating a sudden recruiting opportunity
High gas prices have created another “ sudden recruiting opportunity”. Because these prices have literally forced many otherwise happy employees to seek cheaper commutes. Now, many are surprised to learn that commuting has such a large impact on employee turnover. But it’s a fact that 23% of employees have quit a job due to a bad commute.
So the most obvious response to high gas prices (when it’s true) is to make it clear to potential applicants that your jobs provide above-average pay. So that its employees can better afford the growing expense of their commute. Obviously, not having to commute at all saves a great deal of gas money. If you work for a company that routinely offers a significant number of remote jobs, it is critical that you make their availability abundantly clear in your job posts and recruitment advertising.
Likewise, if you are a company that offers three or four-day work weeks. You must make that clear to their potential applicants in their recruitment advertising. The company should also make it clear to potential applicants when their jobs are close to mass transit and/or to where most employees live.
And finally, companies that have an established EAP commuter support benefit that fully supports all aspects of commuting (including ridesharing, vanpools, and commuting subsidies) should now be constantly boasting about it.
Opportunity driver #2 – Affordability issues are creating a surge of employees who are seeking higher compensation
Long before gas prices skyrocketed, many employees were struggling to make ends meet, especially in key “affordability areas” like groceries, rent, and healthcare. Because their wages haven’t kept pace with inflation, many of these frustrated employees are now seeking new jobs.
Companies can attract these “affordability applicants” by making it clear that they offer above-average pay, as well as more frequent raises and greater opportunities to earn bonuses and overtime. Because healthcare premiums and co-pays have also become major affordability issues, firms can attract more potential applicants who are otherwise happy with their current job. By showing them clearly that their new job will have significantly more affordable healthcare coverage.
Opportunity #3 – A large pool of TSA workers will be considering a new job
Because of how they have been treated, this second TSA shutdown in two years has already caused nearly 500 resignations. Not feeling appreciated, alongside not being paid for so long in a world where everything is more expensive, is causing literally thousands of TSA employees to consider looking for another, less frustrating job.
It’s also important to note that TSA workers have proven to be particularly desirable to corporate hiring managers. Because they have proven that they are detail-oriented, dedicated, and they are willing to work off-hour shifts. And as an added benefit, these TSA employees are now becoming available in almost every large US city.
And fortunately, during the last round of TSA resignations in 2025, recruiters learned that the key attraction factors for these government workers included job security, consistent treatment, strong retirement benefits, and better pay. Because these workers are currently highly frustrated, they won’t require a great deal of recruiting outreach to build interest in your open jobs. Also, since many are financially strapped, offering them a cash sign-on bonus is guaranteed to get their attention.
Additional SRO Drivers That Have Previously Created A Sudden Surge In Talent Availability
In addition to today’s three prominent economic and business factors, there are several other drivers that have previously created sudden surges in talent availability. These additional drivers, which recruiting must constantly be on the lookout for, include major layoffs, the failure of a major company in your industry, widespread facility closings, natural disasters, and significant M&As or bankruptcies.
Readers should also note what I classify as “predictable” drivers of talent opportunities, which are predictable because they repeat at the same time each year. These predictable surges occur at the end of major business seasons and during the summer, when the availability of college graduates spikes. Other predictable months when talent availability surges include August/September, when the largest number of employees quit. And during January, when new budgets trigger the highest number of layoffs.
Note: You can learn about the big picture concept of what I call “right time recruiting” here.
Final Thoughts
In my experience, 90% of recruiting strategies remain rigid and unchanging throughout the entire year. Unfortunately, this means that when a sudden and unexpected surge (SRO) in talent availability occurs, neither your methods nor your recruiting targets will shift to meet the new opportunity. In our rapidly changing world, almost any form of rigidity is not just silly; it will significantly reduce recruiting’s business impacts.
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Notes for the reader
This is the latest article from Dr. Sullivan, who was called “the Michael Jordan of Hiring” by Fast Company.
You can subscribe to his Aggressive Talent Management newsletter (which focuses on recruiting tools, current recruiting opportunities and recruiting trends). Either here or by following him on LinkedIn.
