Equinox's Tony LoPinto

The industry is starting to feel the pinch of recession, it would seem, based on last week's Quick Poll. Some 53% said they're retracting their fangs and holding steady on hiring while 12% actually plan to cut back on their staff numbers. Only 35% are daring to beef up. Commentator Anthony J. LoPinto, CEO of New York City-based Equinox Partners, has his own, somewhat contrarian, take on the dynamics at work:

"This year is going to be a year of fairly steady organizational activity. By that I mean organizations will go through changes and people will leave and people will be rehired. At that level it will be business as usual.

"The wait-and-see factor passed with the fourth quarter and, barring some other unforeseen event, many of the companies I deal with are looking at the market as an opportunity. The credit crunch has carved out some of the fringe players and tightened up pricing, and product availability has emerged in certain sectors that wasn't there before. All of this translates into a continued need to make sure your organization has the right people in place to maximize potential in the market--a market that is changing and evolving.

"We're seeing companies still making strategic hires. Fresh capital is being raised for emerging investments like distressed debt funds. This all brings forward the need for such hires for expansion opportunities. So on balance it will be a steady market with growth in some of the opportunity areas.

"In terms of people shifting from company to real estate company, clearly when you go through market shifts, as we have since the summer, professionals get a heightened sense of openness about opportunities from a security point of view. They're more open to considering other opportunities than they would be in heady times. So I think professionals will be more willing to consider opportunities out there."