Rise In Permanent Hiring Signals Recovery

Rise In Permanent Hiring Signals Recruitment Recovery

Permanent recruitment has staged a comeback in the last three months, growing from 4% to 7% of recruitment agency jobs, while on-hired and contractor placements dropped 5% to 92%, according to the RCSA (Recruitment & Consulting Services Association) Quarterly Business Manager Survey released today.

According to the CEO of the RCSA, Ms Julie Mills, this is a positive sign of recovery for the sector and the economy.

“When there’s a rise in permanent hiring, it’s a sign that employers are confident they have the work and the revenue to keep people on long-term. And in past downturns, it’s been a sign for the recruitment sector that the worst is over and the recovery has begun in earnest,” said Ms Mills.

This bright outlook is reflected in RCSA Members’ business confidence, where 72.5% expect business to grow in the next quarter – an increase of 6% from the previous round. Similarly, Members expect next quarter’s business volumes to rise by 8.5% (compared with last quarter’s level of 5.7%), while client interaction with rose by 18%.

However, the survey showed that the prospect of recovery has not yet flowed through to agency workforces. Staff growth was still negative - albeit at a much reduced rate of -10%, compared to -26% last round. Staff turnover has pulled back from historically high levels, now at 37%, compared to 56% and 61% in the last two rounds.

“It will take some time for recruitment businesses to return to the size and profitability we saw before the downturn. Now, smart managers will be looking at ways to keep their best people, so that they don’t get lured away once the sector heats up. Providing things like career development, quality education and flexible hours will be high on the agenda again,” Ms Mills said.

As the employment market gets back on track, so have the skills shortages being experienced by recruiters. Engineers are back at the top of the skills shortage list, after being replaced by Health Professionals and Nurses in 2009. The New Zealand Top 10 is dominated by health, medical, building and trade roles.

The Top 10 Skills Shortages in New Zealand were:

Non-building professional engineers

Non-building engineering associates and technicians

Nurses

Health professionals

IT and telecommunications professionals

Non-building electrical/electronic trades

Building professionals

IT and telecommunications technicians Medical technicians

Electrical trades (building)

The survey was conducted by email and sent to the business heads of RCSA corporate Members in Australia and New Zealand. 177 responses were received during Dec 09/Jan 10.

ENDS

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