SkyWater Blog

Part of our Women's History Month Series: Celebrating Pioneering Women at Work    

This month, in celebration of Women's History Month, SkyWater Search Partners will highlight the achievements and legacies of Pioneering Women at Work. Here, we spotlight Margaret Hamilton, one of the most consequential yet under-appreciated figures in the history of space exploration.  A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientist whose pioneering work in software engineering was central to the Apollo space program's success, Hamilton led the software team responsible for enabling Apollo 11 astronauts to land safely on the moon.

“I do not see myself as a footnote to someone else’s life…”

-Martha Gellhorn.

Part of our Women's History Month Series: Celebrating Pioneering Women at Work    

Today, in celebration of International Women's Day, SkyWater Search Partners is spotlighting Martha Gellhorn, a wildly talented trailblazer whose courage and tenacity paved the way for future generations of women in journalism. More than just a witness to history, Gellhorn was a fierce and fearless participant whose words and photographs captured the raw essence of human conflict and compassion.

During this Black History Month, I hope you and your team have enjoyed immersing yourselves in some of the celebrations available to us all this February. As we approach the end of the month, it feels like the right time to step back and reflect on how we can take the lessons of Black History and use them to do better as employers and community members. What can we do to advance the ideals of diversity, equity, and inclusion? How do we ensure they reverberate for our teams and shape our efforts going forward? At their core, these ideals are not only about becoming wiser, more inclusive human beings in our personal lives. They're also a rallying cry, encouraging us to reconsider the systems, practices, and structures that continue to get in the way of achieving diversity and equity in the workplace.

Here are some things we're learning along the way that are important for all employers to remember as we continue on our journey.

Unemployment rates are low which means hiring (and retaining) talent must be a priority.

Hiring managers may claim they want to attract the best candidates to their brand, yet they are stifled in their ability to do so by what we call ‘internal equity’. This problem typically occurs when the hiring manager fails to hire an outstanding candidate because they can’t meet their salary expectations of $120k as the equivalent manager in the next department is only earning $100k. The result is that the employer makes an unsatisfactory offer to the candidate their business desperately needs. The candidate turns the offer down and is swiftly employed by a competitor willing to meet their salary expectations.

“There just aren’t any great candidates out there right now.” I hear it all the time, usually from battle-weary hiring managers. They’ve taken the time to craft a solid job posting, only to watch a handful of not-quite-right resumes trickle into the system. While it’s true that, depending on your industry and the role you’re attempting to fill, talent is still painfully scarce. But before you blame the lack of candidates, I have a question for you to consider:

The 2023 changes to Minnesota employment laws are here and they are so sweeping that Minnesota’s commissioner of labor and industry, Nicole Blissenbach, lauded them for making Minnesota into “the best state for workers and their families.”

An under-explored lesson from the Great Resignation.

Two years into the pandemic, a Jobsage mental health poll found that most (55%) of American workers had experienced “significant stress” within the past year, with 38% reporting symptoms of depression. In addition, a staggering number reported that it had become difficult for them to even work at their jobs, citing very specific reasons: 37% reported a “lack of motivation,” 36% named anxiety, and 31% pointed to “feelings of anger.” When asked why they had resigned, more than a quarter of respondents (28%) said it was because of the job’s “impact on their mental health.”

A successful job search is all about nailing the interview. But you’ll never have the opportunity to do that if your resume can’t pass the automated screeners – and dazzle the human ones.   

Example Resignation Letter

According to Gallup, only one-third of managers are engaged at work.

You’ve heard the term by now, but the phrase “Quiet Quitting” is a pretty confusing name for an alarming trend, one that every employer of white-collar professionals needs to understand – and get ahead of quickly. To solve the problem, employers must first fully grasp what quiet quitting looks like, what causes it, and who is most vulnerable. The concept is better captured by another phrase that has emerged lately: "Act your wage."