Businesses ramp up hiring

Photo / The Daily Post

Recruiting group Hays is reporting a ramp up in hiring activity by businesses, with employers taking on permanent and temporary staff.

Those organisations that cut staff during the global financial crisis were now adding to their teams to take advantage of business conditions, Jason Walker, managing director of Hays in New Zealand, said today.

Increased demand had quickly exposed an underlying shortage of specialist skills, with the overall number of good available candidates having fallen.

The number of candidates receiving multiple job offers and counter offers had grown, Walker said.

Employers were also starting to shorten their recruitment timeframes in response to the growing competition for top talent, and were becoming flexible in their set requirements.

Hays October to December quarterly report noted demand for a range of occupations including accountants, engineers, lawyers, analysts and miners.

Even in the hard-hit construction sector some skills are in demand, including quantity surveyors for projects working to tight deadlines and low margins, while contact centres are looking for senior customer service candidates.

- NZPA