Does anyone else get the feeling that lateral hiring is really not happening much this season? Usually the blogosphere and the conference circuit is rife with gossip about lateral moves around this time of year, isn't it? Seems pretty quiet out there.
I don't know if the economy has impacted the entry level as much as it has the lateral market either.
I also don't know if the quietness about lateral hiring has more to do with schools not looking for laterals this year or with laterals being less willing to move in an uncertain economy. (And are schools/candidates opting for visits in preference to an all-out move this year?)
Oh, and one other theory I have on this. A lot of dean searches have been happening in the last 18 months or so. I'm wondering if the fact that many schools have been without a permanent dean has impacted the hiring market. In other words, risk averse candidates are less likely to accept an offer at a school without a permanent dean so if there's a lot of dean openings, there may be less hiring. Alternatively, schools without permanent deans may simply not want to hire because it is unclear what a new dean's budgetary and hiring priorities might be.
Any thoughts?
We're all eagerly awaiting the 2010 installment of Dan Filler's lateral moves list, which will help confirm, I imagine, my sense that lateral hiring has declined dramatically this year. I suspect that the slow down is due more to schools not having money than to faculty not wanting to move in tough economic times. But both contribute to the slow-down, I'd imagine.
Two years ago I predicted that lateral hiring would slow down–and that was before the crash:
http://www.thefacultylounge.org/2008/02/trend-spotting.html
What's the latest news on the entry-level market?
I've sensed the same thing. In particular, I've noticed a real lack of lateral recruitment and/or hiring of me. On the other hand, this does not distinguish this year from any other year, so perhaps the phenomenon I'm noticing this year isn't all that probative of general conditions.
What Jay Wexler said.
Although I have this recurring dream in which I am walking out of my office for my retirement dinner and realize, with horror, that my phone has been disconnected from the wall for my whole career.
Agreed. I did recently accept a lateral offer, but a number of other places (including several that had expressed earlier interest) told me they just didn't have the money to do much. In several cases, I heard that the lack of flexibility meant that one open offer — or even, at one institution, the promise to consider making an offer — stopped all other lateral hiring.
A nice post covering an important issue. The only remark would be,
you never know what are the requirements for your editor, until you have completed at least a level.
Senior faculty members deferring retirement. The economy, specifically its impact on school budgets. The real estate market in various locations discouraging laterals moving. All critical factors adversely affecting lateral hiring. A lot of things are changing, and terms impacting employment for academics, like "tenure" mean something a little different that they did ten years ago.