Helicopter View

 The start of the new financial year finds many companies and candidates concerned about the global outlook as well as uncertainties in the Australian Economy.

As a result we are seeing a reduction in applicants from traditional sources such as job ads.

Whilst the overall outlook is hesitant there are a number of organisations looking to substantially increase their professional teams based on strong order books particularly infrastructure projects throughout the country. This is proving tough as candidates in general are uncertain and tending to stay where they are. “The Devil You Know”.

Calibrate continues to be able to source hard to find skill sets due to our long history in the market and our exceptionally well networked consulting team. At Calibrate we continue to make 0ver 60% of our placements through our own networks and web site.

Proving it is who you know that is the main driver.

For further information on how to improve your chances of securing a better job, or of finding and retaining talented technical professionals, please contact Tony Horrocks directly on 61-2-94316514

Manufacturing Desk

Carbon Tax and the Potential Effects on Manufacturing in Australia:

We need to think this through

As it stands, there is no doubt the carbon tax will have a detrimental effect on the manufacturing industry. It will increase production costs, reduce staffing levels and make Australian manufacturers less competitive. We are likely to see less investment in new technology and plant. Gradually the percentage of Australian manufactured product versus overseas product will decrease. Small to medium sized manufacturers will suffer and be offered little support. This will lead to significant job losses and gradually the closure of manufacturing plants in Australia with no net benefit in reducing carbon. Australian carbon taxed products will be replaced by product from overseas which has no carbon tax.

We’ve experienced rushed government policy and legislation previously, and witnessed its negative effects on the community and industry. The carbon tax is the most complicated plan and impost on the community and economy to be developed by government to date; it should at least be considered thoroughly rather than simply rushed through.

For further information on how to improve your chances of securing a better job, or of finding and retaining talented technical professionals, please contact Matt Gorrie directly on 61-2-94316508.

Infrastructure and Mining Desk

• Investment in iron ore projects set to double in Australia causing a significant increase in requirements for geotechnical, rail and mining specialists
• Recent state government announcements for successful parties securing rail projects in Victoria and NSW have caused a current demand for rail design and tunnelling specialists in both States.
• Federal budget allocation for regional area health, education and transportation infrastructure includes 63 major health infrastructure projects, and continuing road upgrades have caused a demand in roads and highways design specialists in NSW, QLD, TAS and SA.

For further information on how to improve your chances of securing a better job, or of finding and retaining talented technical professionals, please contact Sylvia Morton directly on 61-2-94316505.

Software and Digital Media Desk

Over the first six months of 2011, the software engineering sector has continued to experience skills shortages amid solid demand from employers. There have been some job losses, notably due to the relocation of Altium to Shanghai and R&D retrenchments at Symantec. However, leaders of the main industry bodies continue to lament the lack of attention given to IT skills shortages by federal government.

Locally, the NSW government has launched some initiatives designed to stimulate IT investment with the introduction of the ICT Governance Framework, and grants of $30M to mobile technology projects announced at CEBIT.

The digital media sector continues to be marked by talent shortages and high staff turnover. Experienced Producers, Project Managers, UX specialists, and .NET developers are in particular demand and this is placing upward pressure on salaries. The media sector in general has a staff churn rate approaching forty per cent, and in the technical area this is exacerbated by salary discrepancies relative to other sectors.

For job seekers, it is very much a “two speed” environment. Those with no local experience and poor English skills may find it difficult to secure their first job. This will be less of an issue for candidates who have worked with high profile, international employers or obtained good results from highly ranked universities. Additional advantages apply for those who have specialist technical or industry experience. Recent surveys suggest that local IT professionals are experiencing more frequent job offers, improved working conditions, and better salary reviews in 2011.

For employers, focus on staff retention and attraction strategies should be high on corporate agendas. Areas like technical training, work/life balance, office amenities, internal promotional opportunities, location, company image and branding, and keeping pace with technical change are all important to job seekers. Partnering with specialist recruiters who work in an organisation’s niche sector is one option that can help reduce time to hire periods for skilled staff.

For further information on how to improve your chances of securing a better job, or of finding and retaining talented technical professionals, please contact Daryl Hubber directly on 61-2-94316507.

High Technology and Research Desk

The demand for Software developers, Business Analysts, Project Managers and Technical Consultants within the digital communications technology space continues to grow. This is driven by the requirement for key IT and Telecommunications products within the Smart Grid initiative – which will deliver a more innovative and reliable Electricity supply to the benefit of consumers.

For further information on how to improve your chances of securing a better job, or of finding and retaining talented technical professionals, please contact Paul Hollington directly on 61-2-94316512.

ICT Desk

• The strength of the Australian dollar makes IT-related purchases far cheaper creating demand for Project-related IT professionals.
• Project and IT managers within the banking and finance sectors are in high demand to oversee core business data systems.
• Senior business analysts in retail banks, insurance companies and superannuation providers to streamline business applications and customer databases.
• .NET developers in the commerce and industry sector as companies shift to Microsoft platforms to develop web-based applications.
• Upward pressure in the Telecoms sector from the NBN and suppliers.

Read about the Top 200 International Design firms and the effects that the financial woes of the past two years have had on them. It’s not all doom and gloom!

Simply click the link below to download the pdf.

The 2010 Top 200 International Design Firms

Sales – the times are a changing…..

When I first started in the recruitment industry in the late 80′s the focus of most business leaders was reducing cost and growing profit through efficiency improvement – we placed people in continuous improvement, business process re-engineering, methods studies, MRP systems implementation, application of technology to control processes etc.

Then in the 90′s as Neil Rackman (Spin Selling) points out, there was a shift in focus to business growth through acquisition – this was the period of revenue growth through takeovers, mergers and acquisition. Many of us remember this period for retrenchments at middle management level as businesses where merged and rationalised. Demand was strong for legal, accounting, management consulting people with M&A experience, strategic business process re-engineering, ERP implementations etc.

Now in 2010 there shift to organic revenue growth through increasing sales. The focus of most CEO’s is on increasing market share by winning more business. However in the current market increasing sales is not as easy as it was 10 years ago, the market is far more sophisticated – through the use of web based technology, clients are able to carry out research and obtain information to enable them to make informed decisions about what is available in the market. Changes in the way large corporates are doing business including increased reliance on purchasing departments to secure preferred supplier deals via head office – clients expect more and want to pay less.

Transactional sales people are finding it increasingly difficult. The nature of successful sales people is changing. . I am amazed when I receive a cold telephone call that starts with the sound of a set of lungs being loaded with air followed by a hard sell in form of a barrage of words designed to minimise my ability to get a word in – a verbal assault followed by an attempt to close…. I don’t like being sold to like that and in my experience that kind of sales is at best ineffective and often damaging..

I am happy to receive a call from a salesperson who has researched my company / industry and approaches me with a targeted, thought provoking question that identifies a business need. They generally don’t sound like stereotypical sales people, they don’t need to sound overly confident and generally they listen more than they talk. Hence the strong growth in demand for Solution Sales people with strong subject matter expertise and well developed communication and relationship skills such as listening, ability to ask intelligent & probing questions, patience to get the full picture before offering a solution.

Hence there is strong demand for high calibre consultative sales professionals who understand relationship based, solutions oriented consultative sales combined with the drive to grow a business and achieve targets.

If you need help in developing and executing a strategy to identify, recruit and on-board high calibre sales people call Geoff Cooper MD or Tony Horrocks GM on 02 9431 6526 for an initial discussion..

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.