Global IT recruitment service

By Adam Gifford

A familiar name on the recruiting scene, Compuforce, is disappearing as parent company Morgan and Banks New Zealand relaunches its specialist IT recruiting division.

It is now Morgan and Banks Technology (MBT) and the move is part of a rash of recruitment-front activity, as companies try to fill an increasing number of high-skill jobs from a limited pool of applicants.

Morgan and Banks chief executive Alistair Sutherland says the new MBT branding is in keeping with the global strategy of TMP Worldwide Inc.

TMP is the United States company with which Morgan and Banks Ltd recently merged to create a global IT service. TMP, which started out as a recruitment advertiser, runs Monster.com, the largest Internet job site, with more than 175,000 jobs listed at any time.

MBT will provide specialist recruitment services to all areas of the information technology industry including: management, sales and marketing, consultancy, networking and communications, software development and sales support. It plans to cover a diverse range of industries.

It has also created a Web site, www.mbtglobal.com, to allow clients and candidates to access information about the job market.

"We believe MBT, with the yet to be fully realised input from TMP, will create the world's first truly global IT and telecommunications resourcing firm," Mr Sutherland says.

The various Morgan and Banks subsidiaries in Australia, New Zealand and Asia will in future work much closer together.

Mr Sutherland says research company Gartner Group has estimated there are only 7.5 people available to fill every 10 IT jobs advertised, something which affects the way recruitment companies operate.

"As the skill shortage continues, organisations like us will become more involved in training or partnering with training organisations," he says.

However, technology changes means it will be easier to line up experience and skills, with job requirements.

"Our role as recruiters will be matching up applicants to the culture of organisations," he says.

"The market is premised on people only working for money, but that's not strictly companies to convince potential staff they are the employer of choice and offer an environment people want to work in."

Lampen Group has also moved onto the Internet, posting resumes of more than 1000 job seekers at www.lampen.co.nz.

Marketing manager Karen Stearns says the site does not include names or personal details, but rather brief outlines of skills and experience.

"From these snapshots an employer can contact us for further information," she says.

The site also includes job vacancies.

Karen Stearns says research by a Californian company, Internet Business Network, estimates there are 100,000 job-related sites and 2.5 million resumes on the Internet.

Another leading IT recruiter, Candle Australia Ltd, has reported a 43 per cent increase in profit in the half year to the end of last year. It earned an after-tax profit of $2.26 million on revenue of &90.21 million, which was up 71 per cent on the corresponding period in 1997.

Chairman Don Harvey says the result was assisted by the successful integration of New Zealand-based Doughty Group into Candle's operations. All branches exceeded profit targets.