Recruitment company director Kate Ross on the year past - and what is coming for 2011.
Last year I could not wait until the year was done with. This year has been about recovery and cautious growth and I have enjoyed seeing the market improve and people generally in more of a positive space.
I have seen pockets of the market this year do very well, others flat line and only a very few decline. From a recruitment point of view we found the first six months of 2010 actually pretty good; it was all about "back filling".
Candidates tired of what the recession did to them; burnt out and over internal pressures, they wanted a change. As one left we replaced them with another. A high percentage of these candidates who registered were currently in jobs and only moving roles if the right one arose. It did.
Where did the candidates go that were made redundant during 2009? They did a mix of things; retrained, went abroad or took "anything" to pay the bills.
Overall, companies generally did not expand a great deal within the first six months of 2010; however, our temp and contract base did increase to take the pressure off rising workloads.
Businesses that had a need wanted to ensure that work levels were going to become sustainable, but they also needed to work out what they really required. Previously when there was a need, it was "find someone yesterday"; now it's more of a sit down process - think about what is required and recruit accordingly. It's structured.
From mid year onwards, we noticed a number of new roles coming in where companies and teams were expanding. What types of roles have been of high priority? We have found positions such as BDM, Sales and general office administration.
It is without doubt a candidate-short market and it's going to get worse. Well skilled and good all round candidates have all the balls in their court. They are getting multiple offers and they are making the decision based on money and role content combined.
I cannot stress enough that if you are looking for a candidate to start in the New Year and you are hesitating, then you may really struggle - the market is moving. A number of long term contracts have also come available and these are filled quickly with well skilled candidates.
We have seen a few candidates return from overseas, nothing like two years ago however - but this may be early days. As we make our way around our clients, what is the generally feeling? A mixture of exhaustion and relief that this year has been better, but nearly over.
So what do we see happening in 2011? One word: growth. We are already starting the recruitment process for a number of newly created roles to start late January/early February and know work will be given to us in the early part of the year.
Companies will grow next year; teams are overloaded as business has definitely increased and general stability is back. Yes, we will have dips here and there - that's a given - but my prediction for 2011 is that people will come back with confidence and as each month passes, more certainty and confidence will return to the market.
Recruitment is the barometer of what is going on; if we are good then businesses are generally good.
So on that positive note, I wish you all a very relaxing holiday break and look forward to updating you all on the optimistic year we are all going to have in 2011. Happy holidays!
Kate Ross
Kate Ross is director of Kinetic Recruitment
