‘War’ for executive talent heats up with improving economy

As the job market improves, so does the demand for high-caliber executive talent in this ever-expanding economy.

ExecuNet.com tracks this ebb and flow of demand for high-priced executives, and they say almost seven in 10 recruiters at search firms believe the "war for talent" will hit high gear by year's end.

"Essentially, the war for talent is increasing, but it is also the war for the right talent," said ExecuNet President Mark Anderson. "So it is not just for replacement and expansion of exactly the same jobs."

Healthcare and technology are most in demand of top shelf executives, according to Anderson, who said those areas are followed by pharmaceuticals and manufacturing. An additional challenge for companies is trying to keep their own talent as other businesses snatch their workers away.

Carl Van Horn, director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, said the other indication of this increasing executive demand is a number that is real "wonky." It's called the "quit rate," which is the number of people who voluntarily leave their jobs to go to another job. He said the buyer's market for candidates will bid up the price of executive hiring -- "good for workers, not as good for the companies."

There is still a higher unemployment rate among younger, less experienced executive job seekers, Van Horn said, maintaining that while this talent market is improved, it is not perfect.

"It is not what it was in late 2007, or in the late 1990s, but it is certainly much better than it was during the recession and even in the last few years," Van Horn said.