With the rate of HR professionals being made redundant showing signs of decline, hiring freezes levelling and new vacancies tentatively rising, the HR job market seems to be bottoming out.
Public sector demand for HR professionals is now being matched in the private sector as it experiences a recovery. “Though HR recruitment is still at a low, we are seeing organisations start to lift their recruitment freezes and make budget available for business critical hires,” confirms Guy Emmerson, Associate Director of HR recruitment at Badenoch & Clark.
The HR recruitment expert’s view is further confirmed by the Monster Employment Index which saw a one point increase in the number of HR job vacancies advertised online in June.
HR is home to some of the nation’s most disillusioned employees
Whether or not hiring resumes by the end of the summer as generally predicted, employers should be mindful of showing their staff now how valued they are. According to Badenoch & Clark’s latest Happiness at Work Index, HR is home to some of the nation’s most disillusioned employees, with a worrying 43% feeling undervalued.
The danger for employers that ignore this figure is that they’ll lose their best people as soon as a better opportunity comes along; something few organisations can afford to do.
Addressing the other side of the coin – the HR job seeker, Emmerson warns: “The HR job market remains saturated with job seekers, with little sign of the competition between professionals letting up. The job market may have bottomed out, but HR professionals are still advised to dazzle at interview.”
