Jobless surge breeding desperation

Rising unemployment has not solved the country's skills shortage and is now putting pressure on recruitment firms who have to manage an avalanche of applications from people who are not skilled to do the jobs they are applying for.

Jackie Randell, Kelly Services area manager - northern region, says job hunters are being knocked back because they lack either the required skills or qualifications.

"In some cases, there may be a fundamental requirement for the candidate to have a specific qualification such as a vehicle licence or medical qualification," says Randell. "If this occurs, those applicants with the right attitude and fit for the role are encouraged to undertake further training."

So is it a case of the tick-box recruitment culture being taken to the nth degree or are recruiters simply doing what their client - the employer - has asked them to do?

"In situations where we find that a candidate's skills or experiences do not meet the requirements for a particular role, we provide feedback as to the reasons they were not successful and work with them to assist in their career development," says Randell.

She also says an increase in the number of job hunters does not necessarily mean an increase in suitable candidates - or that all industries will benefit from the rising number of applications.

"There has continued to be a marked skills shortage in engineering, aspects of manufacturing, IT, and particularly education and health, where demand has increased despite the recession," she says.

"Due to the nature of these industries - where qualifications and experience are necessary - it is vital for companies to be realistic when looking to fill a vacancy and take the time to find someone who meets their requirements. The New Zealand economy is still in the process of stabilising following what has been a difficult time for businesses. For some companies, this means the need to employ a candidate who already possesses the required qualifications and skills will be top of their list."

Tony Pownall, director of accounting at recruitment firm Hudson, says firms typically need fewer people today following extensive restructuring and the ones they do take on need to be able to hit the ground running.

"Companies are leaner, the immediate challenges are greater and so there is increased pressure to have candidates tick all the boxes and get the ideal person today who can ramp up quickly - and in the eyes of the employer - represent minimal short-term risk," he says.

"They don't have the time to hire people on their potential. They can't wait 18 months for them to do what is required right now."

Like Randell, Pownall says that despite more people being unemployed, there are still areas where skills shortages are making it hard for employers to get the people they need.

Pownall says auditors, tax specialists, cost accounting in the manufacturing sector, sales and marketing people are thin on the ground. He also says good category management staff are hard to find.

While Pownall says there is little room for employers to take on people who can't do the job on day one, a survey by specialist recruitment firm Robert Half Finance appears to contradict his view.

The Robert Half 2009 Workplace Survey says New Zealand's finance and accounting employers are among the most willing in the world when it comes to hiring people who show the right personal attributes, but who may not have the required experience level.

More than 6100 finance, accounting, HR and executive-level managers from 20 countries, including 207 from New Zealand, were asked to take part in the survey in February and March this year.

According to the report, one-third of the CVs New Zealand employers receive come from unqualified candidates. But more than half of employers frequently offer jobs to people with less experience than they were originally seeking.

Megan Alexander, senior manager with Robert Half, says the top three reasons for offering jobs to unqualified candidates has nothing to do with the shortage of suitably qualified people.

"Employers hire the more junior candidates because they show personal growth potential, are a good fit with the company or have transferable skills," she says.

Alexander says her company's surveys have consistently shown employers value personal attributes such as attitude and communication skills.

"Technical skills can be learned," she says. "But those personal attributes will frequently make one candidate stand out. For permanent vacancies, if all the personal attributes are right, New Zealand employers are frequently willing to put some resources into training and development to improve the candidate's technical skills."

However, she says the temporary, or contracting, market is different as candidates needed to start adding value with little or no training.

Of the New Zealand employers who took part in the survey, 56 per cent said the recession had not made it any easier to find high-quality finance and accounting staff, and 77 per cent of them said the people they need were still in short supply.

This mismatch between unfilled specialist roles and the glut of unemployed people who can't do them is giving recruiters such as Pownall a headache.

"There is a lot of noise in the recruitment process now," says Pownall. "And by that I mean there is still only a small number of people for these specialist positions, but there has been a massive increase in applications. People are chancing their arm and stretching themselves when applying for jobs - particularly at the middle management level.

"In any recruitment process there are a number of people who are disappointed, only now that number has got a whole lot bigger. The challenge employers have is in managing the expectations of candidates. The sheer volume of applicants is making it very hard for clients to respond adequately and give detailed feedback - and that means a lot of people are left wondering why they didn't get a job."

Contact Steve Hart via his website at www.SteveHart.co.nz