Job Market Update July August

Posted by Andy McCormack on 2 September 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags: Job Market

Where's the recovery?

Well it’s really turning into a slow grind out of this recession with the recovery that everyone had been hoping for, taking a while to filter through to all sectors. This is starting to cause a sense of concern in a market that needs as much confidence as possible to try and move out of the current predicament. The recovery isn’t coming quick enough and I have the words of many companies I spoke to at the end of last year. When asked at around November time last year, do they think 2010 will be better than 2009, the common response was “..it had better be otherwise we won’t be in business anymore..” As I look at 2010 so far, I do wonder if it really has been that much better. I think it has, I’m just concerned it hasn’t been good enough.

For many companies last year, they survived by the skin of their teeth and for many business owners it meant re-mortgaging houses and cashing up investments to plough back into their business’s to keep them afloat. The problem now is that if things aren’t picking up enough, how much more ‘spare money’ can these business owners find to continue to support their business. I would guess we are at the bottom of the barrel for some.

Having said that there is a level of confidence in the market, with the same business owners that are finding it tough saying that they think things are going to pick up. Positive economic growth is predicted over the next 12 months and companies are starting to gear themselves up for an increase in business, which includes increasing staff numbers. The Recruitment agents that I know support this view claiming job requirements are steadily increasing across all sectors.

I don’t see this as meaning that it will suddenly become easy to get another job, not at all. Competition is still fierce as there are now a large number of candidates who have been hanging on in their current roles because there have been few opportunities thus far in the market, and are now actively looking for a new role. Competition for jobs is therefore stronger than last year when the main applicants were people who had lost their jobs in the recession (those in jobs were sitting tight in most cases).

So it’s not a time to be complacent or take a passive approach to looking for your next role. You need a good CV, be well presented, able to sell yourself at interview and be committed to finding your next role. If you are finding it hard in any of those areas – then we need to talk! Get in touch now

Andy