A regular global survey of hiring and firing trends across the world has found job prospects for professionals and managers in the UK are on the up – with hiring at the highest level recorded since the survey began in January 2009.
The ‘Global Snapshot’ project from the international recruitment firm, Antal, asked 9117 companies in major markets whether they were currently hiring at professional and managerial level. 61% of UK organisations said they were recruiting, although this figure was significantly higher in sectors such as telecoms (75%), banking and finance (82%) and energy (83%). These numbers are set to rise, with even more companies planning to hire new staff over the next quarter.
The number of businesses letting go professional and managerial staff has also risen though, from 22% in the summer to 32% now. It seems that companies are still reorganising their management teams and deciding what kind of people they need to drive success following the downturn.
Hiring levels across much of the rest of western Europe are similar to that in the UK, with Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria and Switzerland all recording recruitment levels of between 60 and 63%. Despite the relative strength of its economy, Germany currently has the lowest level of recruitment with just 32% of companies hiring, however it also has the lowest level of firing in the region too. The USA paints a similar picture to much of western Europe with 66% of businesses recruiting and the highest level of hiring activity was recorded in Thailand, where 86% of organisations are taking on new staff.
“No-one is likely to be brave, or foolish, enough to say that our economic troubles are over, particularly if they are based in Greece, Ireland, Hungary or any of the other nations bearing the brunt of painful budgetary cuts at the moment,” says Antal’s CEO, Tony Goodwin.” But it does seem as if we have avoided the financial Armageddon that seemed all too real a prospect from late 2008 to the early months of 2009. For chief executives and HR directors around the globe, the key business challenge is already shifting away from headcount reduction or containment to how to source the talent they will need in improving markets. The war for talent, which had dwindled to little more than an insignificant skirmish, has already broken out once again.”
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