Kate Ross - First quarter over and I'm optimistic

Kate Ross

This time last year I was trying to steady the ship, scramble for work and keep moving forward knowing it was probably going to be a very hard year in every respect - and it was.

What a difference twelve months makes. As we have come to the end of the first quarter, we are now seeing steady and consistent signs of positive work flow.

Our temp and contract market in Wellington especially, has grown hugely. It's literally doubled in three months and only looks to get stronger. The permanent market in both of our major cities are strong, and only seems to be getting stronger.

Salaries are steady and client's expectations have become more realistic, probably due to the fact they too now realise that the market is still slim pickings for quality. We have also noticed a big percentage of clients move from trying themselves to coming to us first.

We have also seen a large number of candidates move from job to job. The fear is out of the market and we are back-filing positions as one person leaves to go onto another role.

The average turn around time from job pick up to placement has dropped for us from 14 days to 9. So this means that clients and candidates are moving faster and taking the opportunities that are presented to them, not as much waiting for the "perfect positions" but seeing that 90 per cent is good enough, and it is.

Government in Wellington is finally showing signs of life and even though they look to still be shaking the tree, they are hiring staff in various forms.

We have also noticed that some of the first roles to let go last year such as events, marketing and HR teams that had "fat in the system" have started coming back and we are recruiting again, the great thing here is that we have some exceptionally well qualified candidates in these areas.

For the first time in a long time we have to spend a little more time finding appropriate temps in some long term positions. Candidates who are well skilled, realistic and flexible are consistently getting work, this is a good sign and the jobs always get filled, temp rates have also increased slightly.

We have seen a big increase with a need for sales and account management roles. I personally feel these roles are always hard to fill.

A really good sales person is always hard to find, we have seen a bit of head hunting taking place and movement of these types of people within their own industries. This is one position where clients are open to salary; they will pay for experience and quality.

We have found this year a number of our clients for the first time are using us consistently to recruit outside of Auckland and Wellington and have started working the some of the regions. These roles tend to be replacements from a 2009 redundancy or the fact the workload has increase they need the extra help. These positions vary in level.

The buzz is back in the office, the team has had to be expanded in Auckland and Wellington due to work load and from the number of positions we are working on 2010 looks to be a much better year.