After some record breaking months Staffing Industry Metrics director, Nigel Harse, has shared what he describes as the best results reported since the firm first began measuring recruitment industry performance in 2003. “It really doesn’t get any better than this, nine in every ten recruitment business that has participated in our report is showing the same trajectory – growth. It doesn’t matter what size the firm is, they are all reporting strong demand.
“Permanent recruitment is very robust with 22 per cent average year on year growth and temporary and contact figures are revealing average growth of 25 per cent on the previous year’s numbers,” he adds.
While it’s certainly a buoyant way to end the year, Harse does warn that like all good things – it will come to an end, or at the very least, conditions will start to swing. “As we move closer to an election and global and domestic influences begin to impact business confidence, hiring will inevitably slow. It’s nothing unusual or alarmingly but it does demand a shoring up from recruiters sooner rather than later.”
Harse warns that those recruitment firms that have allowed client demand to dilute their specialisation and take on roles that may not have fell in line with their core business in previous months need to be reassessing their current position. “Smart recruitment firms will already be sitting down with clients, gauging hiring confidence should we have a change of government and then negotiating a strategy to counteract any shift,” he says. “Taking stock of the skill sets of consultants and how well they will fair in a changing market is a move well worth making as soon as 2019 rolls in.”
