Market Update

2015 is shaping up as expected – predictably unpredictable! Typically the first quarter of the new financial year starts slowly with new budgets being released and a mad rush to appoint early in Q2 meaning there was a flurry of hiring activity building in August and September before Spring carnival season commences again and things slow down pre-Christmas. 

Unemployment figures went down to 6.2% and remain steady however the impact of the commodities market and the continued focus on productivity means it is likely that further redundancies are still to come.

The hiring freezes we saw as we drew to the end of the financial year have on the whole been lifted with the exception of Commodities and Energy businesses.

Organisations are continuing to focus on performance improvement and productivity gains. We are also starting to see a lot more interest from overseas companies - particularly Chinese organisations looking to enter the Australian market and predict continued M&A activity as well as new organically grown entrants to the market.

Domestic companies are now also looking to take preventative measures against their ‘Uber moment’ as well as having to consider how they leverage their core strengths and enter new markets. The result is that there has again been a resurgence in Strategy and Corporate Development type roles in the market.

Diversity

Many of our clients are now facing increased pressure as they miss their gender diversity targets which will impact Executive’s bonuses. As a result the trend for market mapping and analysis continues to grow as we are engaged to aggressively target female talent. We are also now starting to receive calls from male Executives commenting that their promotion is unlikely due to these targets so are seeking to leave. This is could cause problems as heavy hitting Executives publicly suggest firing male Executives to replace them with females - what is the longer term impact of such short term and reactive measures. Surely this will not drive sustainable change? How will this impact engagement of both sexes and what will the performance results be? Clearly these tactics have not really been thought through. What should organisations be really focusing on to drive real long term sustainable change from the grass roots and up and how they can retain females at Senior Management and Executive levels? 

Benchmarking

Benchmarking assignments continue to be popular with many clients validating their internal development and succession planning by ultimately hiring internal candidates but preferring to ensure they have had a thorough look at the market to ensure they are not missing out on top talent.

Industry Trends

From a sector perspective Retail is picking up with the focus on growth and transformation. Industrial and Consumer clients are focused more on cost out and survival tactics with an ever shifting geographical shift to Asia as the centre of power.

Without doubt the busiest sector is Technology and the busiest functional areas are around Emerging Technologies. On the whole the Energy and Commodities markets are still focused on cost out whilst Government and in particular Transport and Infrastructure remain busy.

Banking and Financial Services are picking up and with new budgets being released and we are predicting all of the previously frozen roles will become live once again. Again the busy functional areas seem to be around Technology, Finance and Risk/Compliance.

Organisations continue to drive stronger performance cultures as they compete with smaller more nimble and cost efficient start-up businesses.

As the dollar continues to fall, Australia continues to be less attractive to overseas candidates. At some point domestic organisations will need to start re-thinking re development to ensure a pipeline of top talent as it will be harder and harder to attract candidates to Australia

Outlook for the remainder of FY '15/'16

In spite of the turmoil in global stock markets, the sentiment remains surprisingly strong re the Australian economy and hiring demand for seasoned transformational leaders.

The talent hotspots remain similar to recent quarters and are firmly focused on Innovation, Analytics/Insights, Mobile, Cloud, Digital and Cyber Security in the Health/Aged Care, Technology, Banking, Agribusiness, Education and Infrastructure sectors. From board level down to Senior Management, organisations are seeking the next generation of leader with experience of emerging technologies in high growth disruptive environments.

Sector & Functional Practices

• Senior Leadership & Board Directors
• Banking & Financial & Professional Services
• Telco, Media, Entertainment & Technology
• Retail, Industrial & Consumer
• Strategy, Productivity & Management Consulting
• Finance & Accounting
• IT & T
• Human Resources