Change of Government and the impact on the Job Market

I’ve been in the Wellington job market for a long time and for a few election cycles (I’ve lost count how many) but this one is different. Public sector jobs started to go on hold in September. We’re nearly at the middle of November and still the jobs are on hold, with many public sector agencies saying they don’t see much point commencing any recruitment before Christmas.

?

Not only are they not replacing anyone, they are also releasing contractors en masse and ending temp assignments pre-Christmas.

?

In my experience, an election period stalls the market for four to six weeks, but the market always bounced back.? If public sector wasn’t hiring permanent staff, they were hiring temps and contractors to fill the gaps until their headcount numbers were defined.? This is not happening this time.

?

In this cycle, there is confidence that the National government have said they will be back to it early January to get their plans underway.? They have encouraged other key government agencies to do the same.? Let’s hope that’s the case.? The last few weeks have seen my team interviewing and talking with candidates that have been out of work since July.

?

I am the first to admit I have felt the contracting market has been inflated with overpaid contractors for years and something needed to change.? Now that we are staring down the barrel of that change, I am hopeful that those contractors, now out of work, will not take too long to course-correct their expectations to get back to work.? Unless this happens, recruiters like us will have a painful period promoting permanent and fixed term jobs to unemployed contractors and temps that have not yet altered their salary expectations.

?

For the last six months I have been comparing it to a game of musical chairs, where the music is about to stop and there aren’t enough seats to go around. Those that hesitate now may just miss out.

?

One client recently told me they would be hesitant to hire long term contractors into permanent or fixed term employment.? They expressed concern that contractors would use permanent and fixed term work as a gap filler until the contracting market improved. They want long term solutions to their talent requirements so contractors are going to have to be pretty convincing about their ability to stick things out for the long haul.

?

My advice going into the next 12 months – find an organisation you can commit to, don’t be greedy and find a seat. We are all hopeful that the new government will make good choices to get our economy back on track. It will take time to adjust to the changes to come, but my years of experience in this market tells me that we always bounce back.? When the contracting and temp market declines, the permanent market provides and vice versa.

Anita Murdoch - Director, Forté Recruitment

If you're in the market for your next role, the Forté team is ready to help you. Contact us on 04 901 6444 or [email protected]