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Recruitment marketing looking a little brighter

While economic commentators are at odds over when the recession will come to an end - or whether it has in fact already - it is hard to ignore signs of increased business confidence over the last couple of months, however tentative. The recruitment sector is in the early stages of recovery and Jonathan Lee Recruitment has started to see some positive signs in many of its key industry sectors since the summer.

New vacancies have been rising from both new and existing clients, particularly at middle and senior level and there has been increased demand from areas badly affected by the recession, including automotive companies driven by the need to meet demanding emissions standards. Renewable energy technologies and nuclear engineering are particular growth areas with the need to produce lower emission, energy efficient products. We are also seeing more commercial and business development roles across all sectors.

On the construction side, the increase in confidence has led to many previously ‘on-hold’ projects being progressed with an increase in vacancies for estimator, planner and quantity surveyor roles, particularly in civil engineering and refurbishment. An upturn in social housing is also predicted from November, which should help enormously with vacancies in this area.
Contract recruitment has held up well throughout the recession and we have also seen further requirements where clients now have a need but have not yet relaxed recruitment freezes on permanent staff, highlighting the need for continued flexibility until we see further recovery.

From a candidate perspective, the range of jobseekers coming to the market also seems to have slowed since the sharp rise we saw at the beginning of the year, suggesting that redundancies may finally be levelling out. On the other hand some very good candidates who would not have been prepared to move at the height of the recession, are now beginning to consider a change.

It may be too early to talk of a full recovery, especially as there have been signs of the recovery stalling during late November and early December with a series of negative press such as the financial crisis in Dubai and an early slow down to Christmas, but it definitely seems as though we are seeing a steadying of the job market and some green shoots on the horizon, which will hopefully turn into a positive trend next year.

However any recovery will be restrained by the inevitable cuts in public spending, affecting the construction industry and the defence sector in particular. The pending General Election has already caused delays in decision-making, which will escalate during the first half of next year. We need a clear mandate and a positive approach from whichever party is elected to govern as soon as possible..

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Recruitment marketing looking a little brighter