Edward Liddy, chief executive of AIG, warned last month that the insurer would be unable to "attract and retain the best and brightest talent" if the US government imposed curbs on executive pay. When the top management of a company kept alive by a $170bn bail-out speaks like that, we get a sense of just how resilient the ideology of talent has become within the corporate world. However, the causes and severity of this recession threaten this ideology's credibility - with potentially considerable consequences for management and the workplace.

The ideology was formally set out in a 1998 article, entitled "The War for Talent", written by five McKinsey consultants. The article made four key points: a small minority of talented employees have a highly disproportionate impact on company performance; the demands of an increasingly complex global economy would require exceptionally sophisticated leaders with a rare combination of singular attributes; demographic decline would make the search for these extremely effective employees even more challenging; as a result of these factors, companies would contest an ever-intensifying "war for talent" with their competitors.

This way of thinking has guided, to a greater or less extent, the human resources strategy of many large companies. Global talent directors were appointed, talent programmes developed, talent consultants abounded - an entire industry created. The phrase "talented employee" permeated the language of business. In short, the ideology entered the very core of corporate life.