If you are, like most of us, finding yourself dismayed, worried, and not a little panicky because every day seems to bring a news report of a fresh economic disaster, and the Four Horsemen of the Media Apocalypse (newspapers, tv, radio and online) are bearing down on you - fear not!  The economic situation - especially in Canada - is almost certainly not nearly as bad as you think. 

How do I know?

Well, a couple of weeks ago, Head2Head released its 2008 Recruiting Salary  Report.  With data from more than 2000 recruiting professionals representing more than 250 organizations across Canada, the Report found that salaries are up by 6-15% over 2007.

Last year when we released the Report - which found that salaries were up by 5-20% - the media was all over the story.  Most of the major Canadian news agencies published articles about it, and it was fairly big news.

This year - not so much.  It seemed odd to me:  after all, with all the negative economic stuff in the media, wouldn't the Report results make a welcome change?

So I called a couple of journalists from credible publications and asked them:  "Why aren't you as interested in this story as you were last year?  Isn't this good news?"

The answers I got can basically be summed up like this:  If the Report had concluded that recruiting salaries were down by 6-15%, that would have made the news.  Editors are telling reporters that they are looking for more sensational, 'doom and gloom' stories - and that it'll be another 6-12 months before they're going to start wanting more positive economic stories again.

The moral of the story?  The next time you find yourself reading yet another story about yet another store closing or round of layoffs, remember that there are probably many more positive stories out there - they just aren't making the news.