In a recession, it is a mistake to think that if the markets are difficult then your top people will stay with you.

This was the message from James Caan at an event hosted by online careers provider Monster in London last night [22 September], who told a select audience of 50 that it was wrong to underpay your top talent, thinking they would be too scared to move in a recession.

Caan told the audience that you must pay a premium to get top people, as the top talent was even more noticeable and visible to competitors in tough times. “Good people need to be paid market value now,” he emphasised.

This ties in with Monster’s own research with employees, which found that if the right opportunity came along, 80% of workers would take it.

Caan also stressed that rather than killing off recruitment, technology had enhanced the recruitment industry beyond recognition. Speaking about LinkedIn in particular, Caan believed it had “revolutionised” the way recruitment works, but not to the detriment of recruiters — or even other online portals such as Monster.