Uplifts in the job market making it difficult to secure top talent

Kim Wouters • February 8, 2021

Posted February 8, 2021 By Kim Wouters

Uplifts in the job market making it difficult to secure top talent

​During the height of the pandemic, employers saw a candidate rich market with record numbers of people being stood down or made redundant. This gave employers the upper hand. They no longer had to act fast when the perfect candidate was found. They were in a position where they could take their time, potentially offer a lower salary, and any type of employment – such as part-time or contract - was just as sought after as the rare permanent position.

However, we’ve seen this situation quickly turn around. Together with Australia’s recovering economy and the fact that companies who had originally paused recruitment are now flooding the market with open roles, quality candidates have more opportunity.

Recent government statistics from December support this. It shows the unemployment rate has decreased to 6.6%, a far cry from the predicted 10%. Full-time employment increased by 35,700 to 8,761,400 people, and part-time employment also increased by 14,300 to 4,149,300 people. Data from LinkedIn shows there’s currently a very high hiring demand in all major cities across Australia and currently there are over 5,500 Information Technology jobs advertised.

Even with this early optimism, there’s still a great deal of uncertainty on what the future holds. Good candidates can now be choosey. And it’s not surprising they’ll opt for opportunities that are secure and are offered quickly.

So, if you’re planning on hiring, or are currently in the middle of an acquisition drive, don’t delay in securing quality talent. Reduce your time-to-hire and be mindful that permanent, full-time roles will be preferred over fixed-term and part-time positions. An inability to adjust your acquisition strategy and process in response to this dynamic job market may mean you could miss out on that ideal future employee.

​Paxus can help

Contact Paxus today if you’re planning to hire. We can provide advice on current market conditions and will work with you to develop a successful acquisition strategy to secure the very best talent.

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