Job Market Update May/June 2010

Latest jobs update

Well there appears to be a lot of mixed feedback at the moment with regards to what’s happening in the global economy as well as how our local economy is fairing. All this speculation and uncertainty is reflected in the job market over the last few months. The general impression is that things are looking more positive in general, but there has been more caution in the market over the last few weeks. As the realisation that the recovery really will be as slow as many commentators have suggested, many companies are holding off with some of their recruitment plans for a little longer.

Having said that there does appear to be some movement at the very senior end of the market (where opportunities have been virtually non-existant for the last year or so) with some very senior appointments being made over the last few months. This can create opportunities as change at the top does tend to result in changes across the business.

The market is still quite tight for some candidate skill sets as some of the larger corporates kick-start the projects that they have had on hold for the last 18 months, resulting in them competing for the same calibre and skill set of candidates. Business Analysts, for example, have been in high demand over the last few months, especially those with 5 years + experience.

Redundancies continue to be a factor for many people in the market as those companies holding on by their finger tips have to shed more staff in a desperate attempt to keep costs down and wait for the market to get back to a more sustainable level. The longer this takes, the more likelihood of more companies disappearing (or at the least being shadows of their former selves).

In summary it is clear that there is still significant uncertainty in the market and that there are hopes that things are on the up. Caution remains the key word for the year so far and is likely to be for at least the next 6 months.