|
Despite a general economic slowdown, the HR recruitment has remained relatively buoyant compared with other sectors. Craig Donaldson reports
HR is often one of the first and hardest hit departments in economic downturns. One of the big differences with the current softening of the market is that companies are still struggling with attraction and retention of talent. The need to constrain costs in a tough market is important, however, many companies have come to appreciate the value that HR can add in shoring up its talent stocks.
There has been a noticeable reduction in recruitment volumes overall, but this reduction is not quite as pronounced in HR when compared with other sectors, according to David Owens, managing director for HR Partners.
"On a positive note, we have seen very little by way of retrenchment/redundancy in HR recently, despite the immense turbulence being suffered overseas. HR departments appear to have plenty to do and appear to be pursuing ‘HR business as usual’ right now," he said.
"Indeed, we anticipate this to remain constant for the rest of the year. HR is rarely over-resourced, and with most HR teams being tasked with important agendas, any economic decline may take some time to filter through to the workload of a fully engaged HR team."
Specific HR roles
Despite the economic decline, the recruitment market is moderately busy overall, according to Owens. "Melbourne is quite busy, Brisbane is steady and it is perhaps only Sydney which has suffered a noticeable drop in activity," he said.
HR generalists in the sub-$140,000 category, learning and development roles as well as HR contractors appear to be most in demand, with in-house recruiters experiencing mixed demand. Owens also said the very senior market appears to have slowed the most.
Advice for the business
While the market is unpredictable and costs will need to be closely managed, people are crucial to the performance of all businesses, so it is important to keep morale and engagement high, Owens said.
"If the business has to make cuts, consider them carefully and try not to cut into the organisational muscle."
"Many HR professionals have spent a long time recruiting, developing and engaging expensively gathered talent for their businesses. The most important thing to consider now is the protection of organisational capability, so that the business is capable of performing at its optimum when the economy emerges from these leaner times," he said.
|
