Engineering and Technical Market Sentiment
At the end of 2009, there was a clear shift in the hiring outlook of our clients within the
engineering, manufacturing and technology sectors. From Oct 2008 through to mid 2009 we
saw a rapid decline in recruitment with a corresponding increase in redundancies. Even
businesses who maintained or continued to grow in profitability implemented hiring freezes,
particularly multinational organisations. By the end of 2009 market sentiment was improving
markedly, riding on the generation of several infrastructure projects, increased business
confidence led to a marked increase in recruitment activity.

Employee Sentiment
Through the Global Financial Crisis in 2009 we saw employees bunker down with very few
choosing to leave, industry estimates suggest that only 2-3% of employees chose to change
employment during 2009 – candidates became risk averse making sourcing quality
specialist candidates difficult. When times are tough, negative media sentiment creates
uncertainty and fear making most people risk averse with a reluctance for changing
employment.

During this period we at Calibrate experienced, high demand candidates rejecting attractive
job offers choosing to “put up with” dissatisfaction in their current role, rather than risk
changing employers. However, for 2010, predictions in the recruitment industry are that up to 25% of all staff will change roles.

Some of these changes will be internal, but many high performing candidates will be leaving
their current place of employment to seek better opportunities.
As soon as market sentiment became positive, we saw this trend with a significant lift in the
number of candidates eager to know what options they have in the market.

The one fact that remains, regardless of the economic circumstance is that the highest
performers are generally those who are more confident. As a result they are more prone to
take a risk and head for what they perceive to be greener pastures.

If business owners and managers aren’t continuing to engage their teams, communicate the
direction and planning of the business’ future and importantly review remuneration / job
descriptions in the light of changed market conditions – they risk losing people to any
business that is.

Recruiting and retaining quality people in the current environment has been become, even
more, a key focus of organisations seeking growth in 2010/2011.