Quarterly market update from Balance Recruitment - Industry & Commerce - October 2011

It’s very rare to see hiring records broken in the third quarter of the year, and 2011 has been no exception. The Industry & Commerce team at Balance came in just fractionally under target for the quarter, yet still managed to achieve a 35% increase on the same quarter as last year.

Hiring managers enjoying time off during the school holiday period greatly impacts the speed at which permanent processes have progressed. Many hiring requirements were put on the back burner until September as the strain of people being off and the tendency not to cover holidays greatly reduces the time people have available to review CV’s and interview candidates.

We have observed that people have gone away for longer than they might have done in 2009/2010 inspired to take a fortnight’s break with the family following two years of deep recession. Obviously the world of Commerce continues however and many businesses have continued to hire during this period. The average hiring process just takes twice as long causing the feeling of a quiet marketplace and leaving those active job seekers feeling despondent. This has led to a number of employers missing out on their preferred candidates due to a lack of speed in progressing from 1st – 2nd – 3rd interviews and to offer. Employers who have a contingency plan in place to continue the process are generally those that secure the talent.

Candidate flow remained consistent throughout Q3 with a greater number of on-line applications for live vacancies vs. headhunt candidate generation. Again, this can be attributed to the time of year and the fact that being ‘out of office’ allows time for job seekers to update CV’s and think about their next career move.

We generally notice a significant upturn in the number of mandates worked on as soon as the schools go back and true to form this followed our expectations. We experienced a significant increase in permanent mandates registered in September with our Media division (in particular publishing) briefing us on those more commercial roles. Publishing is a rapidly changing marketplace with the digital market and new technology advancing at pace. It is therefore essential that such businesses employ Decision Support and Business Analysts to partner the business and form new relationships with third parties.

Overall Balance enjoyed a successful Q3 and as experienced recruiters we know that the summer months will always be quieter than the rest of the year. We therefore invest a lot of time searching for and talking to new talent in the market during the ‘school holidays’. This tends to pay dividends for the final quarter of the year.