The Gaping Talent Gap

Anthony LoPinto

There has been plenty written about the talent gap in real estate. We are in a highly cyclical industry, and when we hit bottom the pool of young talent evaporates until a recovery unfolds. But the comeback on the hiring front always lags in the recovery, exacerbating the situation.

The most extreme period of decline in employment was in the 90s when the real estate markets collapsed following by a very slow recovery, and then the dot.com boom emerged late in the decade, and it further siphoned bright young talent away from real estate. I did some simple calculations that highlights the gaping talent gap that is upon us. A 1992 BA or MBA graduate today is somewhere between 46 and 48 years old and entering prime time in his or her career. The problem is, for the reasons we already discussed, the crop of 40–48 year old real estate professionals is skimpy at best, and this coincides with the ever accelerating retirement of the boomer generation.

The situation is going to become extreme over the next 5 years as companies will be hunting to fill a bumper-crop of leadership roles, only to find that they are hunting for a very scarce commodity in a seller’s market. 

Job Listings

TRAMMELL CROW RESIDENTIAL Development Associate (ATLANTA, GA) Position will be focused on the ground-up development of market-rate multifamily rental projects and assisting in underwriting potential new developments to processing existing opportunities.