Don’t Doubt the Data

HigherEd Isn’t Paying Enough, and It’s Hurting Our Talent Pool

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“We had a huge pool, now we have two finalists.” 

“I’m not feeling like we are getting the best candidates.”

“This is the toughest hiring market I’ve ever experienced.”

Clients and colleagues alike are putting out these statements as they are continuing to struggle with their response to the ‘great resignation’. Higher Education has been hit hard by the rate of churn that got more aggressive due to the impact of the pandemic on staffing and staff members. As institutions have struggled with the idea of whether to go hybrid or continue with remote work (pro tip: do it), they have been largely unresponsive to the market changes in salaries.

Campuses do not do a very effective job in keeping pace with peer institutions when it comes to salaries. They do even worse keeping pace with the greater market. Our employees and potential employees are savvy, they know what institutions pay well, who has collective bargaining, what opportunities are out there for advancement and how the local cost of living will impact their quality of life. As a mentee who is going through a job search said to me recently, “I want to live in a place where I can have one job. I’m done with the side hustle.”