It is difficult to explain the recurring expectation that the Internet will somehow change the historical foundations of an industry. In all of the successful Internet plays to date, the roots of industries remain unchanged. For the most part, the Internet has been a revolution in distribution, not production. Inventory is more accessible and choice broadens, as in Amazon.com or Yahoo.

The Recruiting marketplace is huge and expanding rapidly. As the value of employees increases, driven by labor shortages, the amount of money budgeted for Recruiting transactions increases. It really is that straightforward.

While the hiring tactics of Silicon Valley (and other high tech regions) dominate the news, there are profound changes at work in even the most non-technical companies. In order to meet labor demands in rural Virginia, staffing companies are operating bus lines. Stodgy specialized regional employers are expanding education benefits beyond the traditional boundaries of the company. Some technology firms are building what are essentially company towns in order to control the output of the local education system.

The poorly covered immigration wave (which we imagine to be larger numerically than any historical precedent) demands in house language and literacy development training. Only a sustained immigration and absorption program will begin to solve the draconian shortages we face in the pure number of bodies available for work.

- John Sumser