The jobs market picks up

As economic recovery gathers pace, marketing departments are beginning to feel more confident and this is being demonstrated by the rising number of job opportunities across the permanent, contract and temporary market.

Not only are there more opportunities on the market, but we are also working with a number of organisations that are conducting high volume recruitment drives. Instead of the usual one-off requirement, we are getting requests for teams of marketing people, often for 5+ positions, either as a team to fit under a manager or managers to sit across different divisions. We have seen this across a number of sectors including financial services, retail and IT/telecommunications.

There are usually two reasons for this: the first is that many marketing teams have been heavily under-resourced. Now that confidence is growing, companies are feeling more confident to resurrect old plans that had been put on hold. Consequently, larger teams are being recruited to manage the increased workload. Secondly, we are also seeing a number of roles moving in-house as outsourcing gets restricted in a bid to achieve greater cost-efficiency.

The contract market is also proving steady, as witnessed by an increasing number of contractors who are holding out for longer-term contracts. Unless the organisation has a strong brand profile, most contractors are reluctant to commit to short-term contracts.

In this more buoyant climate, employers need to be alive to the increased opportunities out there. Employees will be looking for other opportunities if they feel they were treated badly in recent years, particularly when they believe they can demand a higher salary elsewhere. If you are keen to hold onto your talent, it’s important to engage with them now, to ensure they are feeling happy and motivated in their role.

While the industry is becoming more confident, there is still an air of caution, as demonstrated by the longer interview processes we are seeing. More stakeholders in the organisation are getting involved at interview stage, with most interviews run over 3 stages, often with 5 internal people attending. Even for temporary roles, we are often finding there is a 2 stage process. Not only does this show to the extent that organisations have become risk-adverse, but it also emphasises how aware employers are of the need to get every hire right.