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When GMG recently announced in Career Innovations, our newsletter for $100k+ professionals, that we were offering a stimulus package to our clients, we received a grateful response from all, but one very upset individual.

It seems that I offended this person quite a bit. In my newsletter, I reported that the Bank of Canada suggested that “the recession is over.” This person reprimanded me quite harshly in an e-mail. His point: I must be a “fool.” The government and banks are “lying” to us in an attempt to instil confidence and that it will be years before we can realize any semblance of normality.

I see his point, but I’m no fool. The “powers that be” are working hard to instil confidence in the marketplace. It will be years before things really turn around. But, the good news is that there is definitely a shift happening in the Canadian marketplace.

In general, Canadians have been more fortunate than our US counterparts. The ongoing subprime mortgage crisis, combined by the arrogance and greed shown on Wall Street and leaders within critical industries such as the automotive sector, have certainly positioned the US for a lengthy struggle and a far-off recovery. In Canada, we have suffered the ramifications, but we have not experienced the recession to this degree — thank goodness!
 
I do believe that we as Canadians are turning a corner. According to a recent PriceWaterhouseCoopers Survey, 60% of Canada’s private sector firms are shooting for growth in 2010. The Conference Board of Canada also just released a report indicating that its Index of Business Confidence has increased by more than 10 points in the second quarter of 2009. There are even some modest improvements in struggling sectors such as manufacturing.

Of course, as I mentioned in our newsletter, while we Canadians are now in recovery mode, some professionals are still fighting an uphill job search battle that, unfortunately, cannot be won overnight. It will certainly take years before we see the growth we saw in the early 2000’s, but things are looking up.

GMG is in the helping profession, especially when times are tough. The troubled economy has caused much grief and difficulty for some six-figure professionals and we want to help make this recovery a swift and smooth one. As a result, we decided to offer our own short-term “Stimulus Package” to help lighten the load of our clients as they transition upwards once again.

If you are not a current GMG client, but would like some help, here are three must-read articles, one podcast radio show, and a free offer from GMG. I sincerely hope that these inspire and engage you during this period of transition:

• Making fearlessness your career transition companion by Linda Schnabel
• Job Loss: there is a light at the end of the tunnel by Wayne Pagani
• Changing expectations for six-figure executives by Maureen McCann
• Don’t dumb down your resume to get an interview my podcast radio show
• Complimentary resume assessment written review by the #1 six-figure firm in Canada

As I mentioned to my angry client, none of us have crystal balls. If you are sceptical about the status of the Canadian labour market, you have a right to be. However, here is some information that we’ve discovered through our own client base. 2009 has seen a positive shift at the six-figure level. 90% of GMG’s Canadian six-figure clients have reported receiving new opportunities this year.
 
We’ll see how things roll as the fallout of this recession dissipates. In the meantime, I plan to continue to provide resources, help, and hopefulness for the many six-figure Canadians who read our newsletter.

Thank you for reading my blog! Please email me if you spot any errors in this post.