Happy Budget Eve everyone!

Market update- Technology, change and transformation:? It’s tough but hang on in there!

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Many clients often ask me what’s going on in the market and what my thoughts are on it. So, I thought I’d share my own personal views with my network.? Please note- views are my own and whilst I’m keen to hear what others think please be kind…and constructive!

Okay, let’s get the negatives out the way first.?

We all know 2024 hasn’t been the best year.? Global conflict, cost of living, Liz Truss, general elections, the post-covid hangover from a period of over-hiring that companies went through in 2021, and multiple other things is now being felt.??

September data from the REC and KPMG’s UK Report on Jobs showed another fall in staff vacancies but this was the eleventh month in a row. Permanent placements also continued to fall, most steeply in the South of England, the smallest in the Midlands.? Again, this pattern of decline has been seen, and felt, for two years now though. It’s not a new thing.

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Permanent pay inflation and salary growth fell for the 3rd month in a row, something that was inevitable and unsustainable at the pre-summer levels we were seeing.? I think we might see a further trim back on pay inflation over the next few months to then level out from there.? Sadly, as we have seen, redundancy programmes have and are being executed across the IT and Change sector, most notably at Dyson earlier this year and whilst I don’t think we’ve seen the last of these, I do believe that we’ll start to see the back of them as we move into December and January.

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Currently many UK businesses have slammed on the brakes as we await this new The Labour Party government’s first budget tomorrow.? In a few more days we will also know who will be occupying the White House for the next 4 years, the (potential) impact of which will only start to be felt a month or two later on UK shores.?

BUT (here’s the more positive bits now)!

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I spoke with a senior transformation leader last week and she put it really nicely.? Businesses are going to run out of excuses for not delivering growth, and to grow they need to transform!? Whether it was Labour or Conservative, whether it’s Trump or Harris, does it actually matter?? Businesses and people in the UK will soon say ‘enough is enough’ (if we aren’t already).? ‘Growth’ should not be a bad word.?

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It does feel like we are starting to come out of the eye of the storm a little now though.? I am already having more positive conversations with my clients and, whilst they are not indicating immediate returns to hiring soon, are now putting their strategic roadmaps together for 2025/26. There will be plenty of work to start getting through even just the backlog of ‘BAU’ projects, let alone continued regulatory requirements like Consumer Duty, Primary Market policy reform, and continued updates to the redress framework to name a few.? Continuous improvement and business optimisation will also be a key focus for many, ensuring long term stability.

Only last week my colleague Denise Morris announced the fantastic news that Sanderson has won an exclusive recruitment campaign collaborating with Tokio Marine HCC. We will be helping to build them a top-tier Enterprise Business Change team, totalling roughly 18 permanent hires.

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My view?? Pipelines will start to build across Q1 and Q2 of next year for business which will lay the foundations for a return to growth across sectors, and increased levels of hiring activity. As mentioned, wages will level out and confidence will start to return as senior leaders look for new opportunities that take them in to strategically transformation opportunities, moving away from ‘keeping the lights on’.

I’m interested to hear from you. Have my network been having similar conversations/feelings about the market?

That’s all from me.??

I’m off down to the beach to pretend I can surf!? Speak in a week.