- D. Brent Young, Project Management Counsultant, Bucher and Christian Consulting, Indianapolis, IN, USA:  "Build it and they will come." No one in the project management profession should be sitting back on his or her laurels right now or ever for that matter. We must continue to grow, learn and focus intensely on innovation in the project management profession.  Our clients and employers genuinely need our help now more than ever, so get off the couch, get that PMP, that ITIL, that Master's degree; bind yourself to raising the bar for yourself and your colleagues.  We must rule this house:  the future of our economy is depending on it.

- Anuj Agarwal, P.Eng, PMP - Timmins, Ontario, Canada:  I am in the field of project management for more than a decade. My experience in mainly related to technical/engineering projects. Here up North, the mojority of projects are related to natural resources - mine, minerals, paper and pulp and forestry.

The forestry, and paper and pulp were in bad shape for past few years. So the impact of economy is not that visible in that sector. As far as mines and minerals are concerned, Nickel prices has gone down drastically leading to closure/delay of many projects and lay-offs. Gold is doing good hence few projects for the gold mining are coming up.

On an average the imapct of economy is quite visible.


- William Mercado - Sacramento, CA, USA: I live in the Sacramento California region and as a result of a reorganization I was recently let go from my former employement. I am now looking for opportunities to best utilize my project management skills.

What I've learned during this process through the help of a career management firm is that looking for a new position is simply an opportunity to re-asses my career objectives. For some of us, defining our career objective is something we've never had to do.With the help of a career management firm, I am in the process of making a project out of my career search. While it's all very scary and can best described with a bungie-jump shaped diagram (i.e. full of highs and lows); it helps to have a plan and targeted milestones.
 

- Dee Copeland, PMP, Program/Project Manager, State of Texas: We're growing jobs in Texas, but there's a lot of competition from both in-state and out-of-state applicants. Big companies, state government, and local government are hiring, but starting to require or prefer a PMP or ITIL certifications.

Salaries are being pushed down and relocation reimbursements are tough to negotiate, even for those with graduate degrees. The best bet is to have industry-specific certifications, an advanced degree, PMP and years of experience, especially for top-paying jobs. — 30 June 2009

- Josh Nankivel, PMP, pmStudent, Sioux Falls, SD, USA: I have been a project manager for over a decade. I did a survey of my blog readers and found 27% were directly experiencing project cutbacks and 18% feared reduced quality due to organizational changes. On the bright side, 10% saw an increased need for good project managers. Let's see which companies come out of this recession ahead of the pack! http://pmstudent.com/impact-of-the-economy-on-project-management/ — 30 June 2009

- Peter Harty Bank of America.com: As an experienced project manager and business analyst/architect having 20 years of professional experience, the subtle change I have noticed during this economic recession applies to the level of scrutiny job applicants are screened by.

It has been my experience that having a combination of hard and soft skills coupled with academic credentials doors typically open and afford qualified candidates opportunity. However, during this employment malaise, the PMP continues to be a sought after credential, but only when complemented with a particular industry experience.

Personally, I continue to be optimistic but have been stymied in trying to parlay my transferable skill and experience to other industry verticals, regardless of my having the PMP or other certifications the market deems attractive.

- Jerry Manas, PMP, PM Think, Philadelphia, PA, USA: There seems to be a trend toward organizations trying to get bargain rates greatly reduced from 2008, partially because of the economy but also because of the influx of unemployed PMs out there available for consulting work. The problem is a matter of high supply and low demand, which makes differentiation and relationship-building all the more important for consultants. — 03 June 2009

- Hal Macomber, Reforming Project Management: There are significant layoffs in the architectural community...up to 40% in Boston. — 03 June 2009

- Cornelius Fichtner, PMP, PM Podcast, California, USA: Most "bites" [job leads] are coming from Monster and Dice online vs. from face to face networks; I’m wondering if this is a shift from more traditional job hunting techniques. — 04 June 2009

- Peter L. Cherpack, Senior Vice President, Director, Ardmore Banking Advisors, Inc., Ardmore, PA, USA: I am a project manager that works on projects exclusively with banks – primarily community banks. Our project work ranges from acting as PM on specific credit and lending related internal projects for our clients to implementing specific lending and credit related technology solutions that our company sells.

Our recent experience in this area reflects a “paralysis” experienced by a number of decision makers in the banking industry. They are aware that they need to complete existing or even initiate new projects – especially around risk control, but they are unsure of the future of the banking market and so afraid to act. They are waiting for things to “bottom out” and afraid to commit to spend any money until things appear to be starting to improve in the economy. Based on our experience all but the most mission-critical projects are being cancelled or put on hold, so that PM work is shrinking. In the larger, healthier institutions projects that were already started are still rolling, but less new projects are being kicked off.

We haven’t seen a lot of PM layoffs, but this may be due to the fact that the smaller banking institutions generally outsource their PM work to vendors, so have no one to “lay off” internally – just no new projects.

The question I am pondering is if this “waiting for the bottoming out” will set us up in the PM world like we were for the “pent up demand” after Y2K that never showed up. Once things start picking up in the economy, will companies kickoff a slew of new projects, or are they instead getting used to simply doing less? — 06 June 2009