Making headway: New outlook for recruitment in 09

12th January 2009

Making headway: A new outlook for recruitment in 2009

The latest Hays Quarterly Report reveals a more balanced outlook for recruitment, with the impact of the economic turmoil generating a return to demand and supply in more equal measure in 2009.

“While some areas of business have suffered, there has been a simultaneous increase in positions designed to counteract these market conditions,” said Jason Walker, Managing Director of Hays in New Zealand. “As the economy has tightened, opportunities have arisen for forward-focused candidates with skills in risk management, cost-cutting, process improvement, and business development.

“In some cases, recruitment freezes have been implemented in a knee-jerk reaction to economic pressure, however at the same time companies who take a long term view are pursuing aggressive plans of growth to steal market share from their competitors. For these companies, it is a time of enormous opportunity, with quality candidates in greater supply and less competition to secure top talent.

“It is also a time of enormous opportunity for candidates who are considering a career move to honour that new years’ resolution. Quality candidates are still in high demand in growth, similarly some employers are more willing to train and up-skill new recruits to fulfil immediate staffing needs.

“The candidates who remain open-minded and who are prepared to ‘sell’ themselves at interview will be the best placed to compete for jobs in this market”.

According to Hays, the most active skills in demand this quarter are as follows:

• Accountancy: Management and financial accounting candidates, experienced BAS, audit, and tax professionals, accounts payable candidates and assistant accountants.
• The Accounting Profession: Insolvency candidates, especially those who can demonstrate a commitment to a career in insolvency.
• Architecture: architectural candidates with experience in areas such as healthcare and education.
• Banking: Banking analysts, and claims candidates within the insurance sector.
• Construction: Quantity surveyors with consultancy experience, civil construction project engineers, civil engineers with water and roads experience, traffic engineers, transport engineers, intermediate mechanical design engineers, senior electrical design engineers, and environmental engineers with contaminated land experience.
• Contact Centres: Customer service candidates are required at all levels, from entry-level to team leader roles.
• Energy: Power infrastructure and substation design engineers.
• Engineering: Mechanical, electrical and civil design engineers, environmental engineers, scientists and managers for infrastructure projects, as well as experienced design engineers with additional skills such as drafting, and project/site supervision.
• Facilities Management: Technical staff, particularly at the entry to mid-level, trades staff for permanent roles, and technical facility and building managers with people skills.
• Human Resources: Generalist human resources candidates.
• Information Technology: Mid-level staff with 2 to 5 years experience and strong technical and functional skills.
• Legal: Lawyers with skills in insolvency and restructuring, and lawyers in the construction area.
• Office Support: HR advisors, executive assistants and experienced administrators.
• Oil & Gas: Senior level exploration and production facilities engineers, as well as subsurface and subsea candidates.
• Policy & Strategy: Senior advisors, policy advisors and executive assistants.
• Sales & Marketing: Business development managers, internal sales staff , fundraising specialists, and tender and bid writers.
• Resources & Mining: Mining engineers.

Further details of these hotspots, in addition to recruitment activity, executive activity, candidate trends and salary movements by sector, are contained in the Hays Quarterly Report, available at www.hays.net.nz/forecast

ENDS

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