November 2020 Market Report

The Wider Market

November 5th saw England move back into lockdown. KPMG wrote in their monthly economic outlook report (https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/uk/pdf/2020/11/uk-economic-outlook-nov2020.pdf) that they expect this to cause GDP to fall again in the final quarter of 2020. They go on to state that output in 2020 will contract by 11.2%, nearly three times the contraction during the 2009 recession. 

The November lockdown has ensured that the furlough scheme was extended. In turn, this meant that there was no dramatic increase in unemployment rate but that may come later in the spring of 2021. It’s difficult to be optimistic, the majority of industry sectors suffered and although there has been encouraging progress made with vaccines, there are still tough times to come for the general market. I particularly feel for professionals in the hospitality, tourism and retail trades.

What have I seen at Connected?

The view from Connected is a little different. My colleague Phil Soffe, wrote in his October market report that the month saw an increase in market activity, particularly on the permanent side where requirements had grown by 75%. November continues this theme as we have maintained this level for permanent requirements and then seen an 40% growth in contract requirements.

When I analyse this upward tick in activity, I can attribute it to:

·     Our sector specialism – Connected Consulting specialise in placing professionals in the technology space. We operate across a range of sectors and three have been particularly resilient to this market and continue to hire with regularity – Telecommunications, IT and Scientific R&D/Consulting (predominantly with a MedTech focus).

·     Existing Client relationships – our long-term clients continue to utilise us with a current emphasis on hard to fill & deeply technical roles.

·     Investment in Senior Talent – Clients are still willing to hire senior Talent who are often transformational or business growth agents. They see that the initial hiring investment can be repaid many times over by the performance of the hire.

Outlook

I think there is more certainty that 2021 should be a year of recovery. Not fast paced but the vaccination timetable does mean companies can begin to plan on a degree of normality returning.

LinkedIn activity and updates provide a telling story on a day to day basis to many recruiters. Candidates have started new roles in 2020, many more are now open to new opportunities. At the beginning of the pandemic, candidates were much more cautious about leaving an organisation.  

Clients continue to have demanding criteria for new hires that they make, driven by reduced hiring budgets and the need for the hire to bring real value to the organisation.

Christmas will bring a period of quieter activity due to contractor furlough schemes and a longer festive holiday period this year, but January will mark the issuing of new budgets and hiring plans. 2021 must offer us more optimism than 2020 has!

We advise job seekers to continue to use all available channels to find a new position.  Our blogs have plenty of useful information for jobseekers: https://www.connectedconsulting.net/blogs/ and some of our latest requirements can be seen on our jobs page https://www.connectedconsulting.net/opportunities/

If you’re interested in finding out more about Connected Consulting, please feel free to visit our website https://www.connectedconsulting.net.  November