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2009 was probably the toughest economic year many of us have ever seen. At best, it was a survival year for most agencies, as well as other companies.
Looking back, there were 3 types of clients in the market :
1. Those that froze opportunities : mainly the bigger companies, who had staffed up significantly over the previous 3 years, and possibly had about 5-10% more staff than what was required. Their strategy being to lose that staff surplus, and probably another 10-20% thereafter, in order to survive in the prevailing economic conditions. Although these clients didn't offer revenue opportunity to agencies, they also did not waste one's time. The smart agencies maintained the relationships through these tough times.
2. Those that hired reasonably freely: mainly smaller to mid size newer companies, who were still in their growth phases, who had good business models, and who had not as yet been in a position to staff up the previous 3 years. These clients were the saviour of many a recruitment agency !
3. Those that hired "cautiously" : these companies ranged from big to small. They were maybe fortunate to have secured new business etc, and they were willing (in concept) to staff up to meet these needs. These were though often the companies where one would spend hours and hours in sourcing the right candidate for them, only to be advised that things had "changed" - whether to hold back, or rethink, or that they had found someone internally etc. These were the worst to work for in 2009!
Enter 2010 - has it delivered better job opportunities to the many candidates out there ?
Yes, so far the market has been reasonably solid. Not nearly at the employment levels of 3 years ago, but also not near the depressing 2009 levels. Importantly, clients seem to have renewed confidence in hiring again. There are no freezes in place, and even those companies going cautiously ahead are doing it better - this caution has been based more on a fundamental decision on whether to look for a new hire - but once that decision has been made, the recruitment processes have flowed quickly.
Most promising for recruiters and candidates, is that there are some companies who are starting to see the bigger picture i.e that human capital is their biggest asset, and that they have a narrow window of opportunity to stock pick some of the best skills in this market - some of these skills are readily available, others are sitting unhappily within companies who may not have really looked after them sufficiently during the tough economic times. These companies are likely to benefit richly if their strategy pays off.
We expect the market to continue improving slowly throughout 2010...and the plum jobs are slowly coming through again!
Cheers
Mike
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