Hays Human Resources - July 2010
Hotspots
As companies increase their headcounts, the demand for HR professionals is correspondingly rising. In particular, newly created roles and the movement of recruitment professionals have created demand for both blue and white collar recruiters. HR Advisors are also required.
There has been a noticeable increase in Learning & Development roles as organisations tackle current employee engagement and retention challenges.
Meanwhile, the financial services industry is going through a particularly dynamic period, with demand high for Remuneration Specialists, OD and Talent professionals.
We are also seeking HR Generalists for various temporary roles, while ongoing requirements exist for executive specialists in the L&D, instructional design and remuneration areas.
The coming quarter
Organisations are starting to hire again in the HR space, which is a direct contrast to the redundancies of one year prior. In addition, building a safety culture is at the forefront of most business plans. Employers are preparing for compliance with the new OHS laws, which take effect in January 2012. This will lead to an increase in the demand for safety professionals between now and then.
Employer trends
Employers remain very specific in the skills and industry experience sought. Their permanent recruitment process also remains slow. Employers often assume incorrectly that there is still a high calibre of HR professionals who are immediately available. Yet good people are generally already in a role and will only move for the right position that comes with a competitive salary.
We advise employers to be more flexible in their job criteria since the pool of available candidates is decreasing.
In the contract market hourly and daily rates are rising.
Candidate trends
There has been a decrease in the number of immediately available candidates across all sectors, but particularly for good quality Recruiters, HR Advisors and HR Consultants. However as mentioned, employers still believe there is an abundance of high quality candidates available.
