State of the Recruitment Market May 2023

Team MyHorizon has been running to keep up with demand for the last 18  months, especially for permanent staff.  All that changed quite suddenly  in April when job flow slowed, upcoming hires were put on hold and several  assignments stalled while clients took leave.  
  
In April we took advantage of the slower market and turned our full attention  to our candidate database.  By early May, workflow had resumed, but  we’ve noticed a distinct shift away from permanent recruitment, towards  contract recruitment.
  
In the first half of May, we surveyed our clients to get a snapshot of the  state of the recruitment market.  We posed six questions to leaders in  60 organisations.  Thank you to those who contributed.  Here’s what  we uncovered.
  
 
What is your perception of the recruitment market at this time?
An overwhelming number (79%) said the employment market is very competitive,  talent is difficult to source and candidate salary expectations are  high.  A small proportion (14%) felt candidate supply had improved in  the last 1-2 months. 
  
Just 16% of respondents felt candidate supply was sufficient to fill their  vacancies with relative ease.  5% of respondents felt neutral about  candidate supply, sighting in some disciplines supply was adequate and in  some it was not.
  
  
Is your company on track to reach its performance objectives for  this financial year?
It was pleasing to hear that 70% of our clients are on track to achieve their  performance objectives this financial year.  But that leaves 30%,  predominantly in industries related to building or retail, who are not on  track to reach their objectives.
  
  
What is your perception of your company culture at this time?
71% of our clients perceive their company culture to be positive.  2%  were neutral, mostly because culture was viewed as positive in some teams and  negative in others.  27% felt negatively about their company  culture. 
  
I checked for a correlation between culture and financial performance and 56%  of companies on track financially, also reported a positive culture.   Just 16% of those not on track to reach target reported a positive company  culture.  Which came first, we don’t know.  It would require a  study over time to uncover.
  
  
What is your current WFH policy? 
Are you expecting any changes to your policy in the near future?
88% of our clients offer some form of flexible working arrangements.  Of  those, 59% had a formal WFH policy and 29% have an ad hoc WFH  arrangement.  Just 7% of that client group were expecting any change to  WFH arrangements.
  
Just 12% of our clients have their employees in the office 100% of the time.
  
  
What are your hiring intentions in relation to permanent staff in  the next six months?
52% of those surveyed know they will be hiring permanent staff in the next  six months.  48% of our clients did not anticipate any permanent  recruitment, unless resignations occurred.  Of those clients not  expecting to hire, 18% had a headcount freeze.
  
  
What are your hiring intentions in relation to contractors in the  next six months?
28% of our clients are already aware they will need contractors in the next  six months.  Reasons for hiring a contractor included permanent  headcount freeze, projects, expected resignations and the need to hire  quickly, parental leave and inability to fill permanent roles.
  
72% of respondents have no plans to hire contractors in the next six months,  which is interesting given we are working on so many contract assignments  right now.
 
 
As a recruiter of 33 years, I’ve never seen such a talent short market.   Unemployment levels are at a 50-year low and quality candidates are more  discerning than ever.  Despite global and domestic economic headwinds,  the candidate shortage is not going away any time soon and hybrid working  seems to be here to stay for the foreseeable future.
  
Most of our clients are doing well.  Those that are not, are winding  back recruitment activity, often to do what they can to make budget for the  half year or June financial year end.
  
Half of our clients are planning permanent headcount growth and 30% are  expecting to replace those who resign.  We therefore expect the  recruitment market to be buoyant, despite troughs like April with its public  and school holidays, and the near-constant interest rate hikes we have all  endured for the last 11 months.
 
  

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