Jobseekers Market

by The Weekend Australian - 08/02/2010

"Suddenly, employers are hiring and employees will not be slow to seek greener pastures. "

        What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, at the height of the global financial crisis, many Australian companies were struggling to survive, laying off staff, reducing working hours, even slashing salaries.

        The future looked uncertain for many employees, from blue-collar workers to top executives, and especially bleak for those out of work and seeking jobs.

        Now, with the country weathering the economic storm much better than most and strong growth forecast for this year, there’s been a dramatic shift in fortunes for employees and job-hunters. The prediction of Matthew Tukaki, chief executive of leading recruitment agency Drake Australia, is that employers will need to change gear in their employment and people strategies if they are not to lose ground against competitors this year.

        “Last year was one of belt-tightening for most employers, with widespread cost cutting, reduced working hours, redundancies, recruitment freezes and training budget reductions,” Tukaki says. “While most employers have come through the worst of the GFC in better shape than expected, there could be a time bomb waiting to go off if employers do not urgently address critical people management issues in their workforces.

        “While most employees understood that their employers faced difficult choices in 2009 with sales volumes and prices falling steeply, this has not stopped the decline in employee engagement and the risk of high staff turnover.’’

        Following a survey Drake International carried out among employers to identify the main management strategies they expect to use as they gear up for stronger growth this year, the recruiter has come up with 10 key forecasts for the employment and skills markets in 2010.

        * Skills shortages will become increasingly apparent in critical roles and industries.

        * Staff turnover will become a significant cost for employers that do not put in place strategies to increase employee engagement.

        * Leadership development will be the main people-management priority for employers.

        * Many employers will increase their temporary workforce as a risk management strategy in case of future economic volatility.

        * Employers will increase the priority given to retaining staff in critical roles.

        * Training budgets will increase but employers will be more strategic about how they spend their training dollars.

        * Wage increases will be moderate, although larger increases will occur for roles where skills shortages are re-emerging.

        * The new industrial relations system will have relatively little effect on most companies.

        * Employers increasingly will be seeking to attract or retain mature-aged employees because of skills shortages.

        * More companies will be introducing new green job roles and seeking new skills as they seek to reduce their environmental impact.

        Drake’s findings are backed strongly by the results of an employment outlook survey carried out by Manpower last month, with Australian employers reporting much stronger hiring intentions for the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year.

        “Employers are gearing up for growth,” says Lincoln Crawley, managing director of Manpower Australia and New Zealand, “and looking to put the right people in place to drive that growth.

        “For job-seekers and disengaged employees, the beginning of 2010 could be the time to move. Buoyed by the recovering economy and revitalised job market, those who stayed put during the downturn are now ready to look elsewhere, especially if they were treated poorly. There will be a scramble for top talent and companies who are not prepared will miss out.”

        While the results of Manpower’s survey—which reveals that the services sector and mining and construction are likely to see the strongest employment growth, and financial services, insurance and real estate the weakest—are good news for job-seekers, Crawley issues a warning to employers.

        “While the downturn masked the pain of the talent shortage, it never actually went away and it’s definitely set to return. Now is the time for companies to get their talent strategy in order, before they face the twin pressures of needing to hire more people and watching an exodus of existing employees.”

        Recent Manpower research reveals competitive pay, career opportunities, work-life balance and the quality of management as the key drivers of employee attraction.

        “These should be focus points for organisations looking to retain existing employees and attract new talent,’’ Crawley says. ``Employers who do nothing will see a rise in staff churn in 2010.”

More Details: http://www.careerone.com.au/news-advice/employment-news/now-its-a-job-seekers-market-20100208