Show Notes: On May 12, 2023, Chad Oakley, CEO of Charles Aris, a top retained search firm in the US for placing former and current management consultants, spoke to members of Umbrex about the current state of the job market for consultants. Chad gave an introduction to Charles Aris and spoke about their strategy practice. He encouraged attendees to ask questions to make the conversation interactive. The conversation focused on the job market for consultants, including the current state of the market, the opportunities available, and the strategies consultants should use to navigate the market. Chad offered his perspective on the job market and provided insights for consultants looking for positions. Charles Aris, Executive Search Firm Charles Aris is a classic executive search firm that has been in business for 54 years and has 90 team members located across 15 states. They specialize in bespoke searches and their five main areas of focus are strategy, corporate development, finance and accounting, engineering, operations and supply chain, and sales and marketing. Their client base is split between private equity firms and non-private equity organizations. They also produce monthly newsletters about their searches and offer reports and compensation studies. Charles Aris has the largest strategy recruiting practice in the United States and their practice is headed by a former consultant from Deloitte Consulting and Wharton MBA. They specialize in placing current and former strategy consultants from firms such as Bain, BCG and McKinsey in various positions from pre-MBA level to partner level. Increased Demand for Management Consultants Since May 2022, the United States experienced  unprecedented economic growth during the past year and unprecedented numbers of employees leaving current positions which led to a shortage of staff in many firms. As a recruiting firm, Charles Aris was overwhelmed with search requests and had to implement a 40-day delay on all new searches for the first time in its 54-year history. A pullback started in December, and interest rates were raised to tame inflation, even if that meant driving the economy into a recession. We are now in the middle of a transition from a 100% candidate-driven market to a 75% company-driven market. Despite this, mixed messages are coming from the market causing confusion; major corporations such as Amazon are announcing sizable layoffs, while the monthly labor reports are robust and unemployment rates have fallen. Chad explains what is behind the conflicting reports between the numbers.  He goes on to explain how this has impacted the consulting sector, how numbers of hires have fallen dramatically compared to the previous year. He mentions how major consulting firms are rolling out their playbook, how they are managing people out, and promotions are slowing, taking on fewer hires, and he identifies a common lie amongst top-tier consulting firms when it comes to promotion, and what many firms are offering in terms of “transition payments” to accommodate moving people out of the firm. Areas of Demand for Management Consultants However, he also talks about what firms are looking for in terms of remote or on-location hires. He talks about the areas of consulting where there is an increase in demand for transformation skill sets. He explains that companies want to reduce their cost structure and are in need of transformation and cost containment experts. Companies have built up investments during the hay days and now need help unwinding them. Companies need assistance in cost containment as they look to their future and realize they likely won't hit their revenue targets. These transformation and cost containment services can help them reduce their cost structure, allowing them to be successful in the coming years. Private equity firms are facing a challenging time right now, as the cost of capital has increased and deal flow has slowed. To make up for this, private equity firm