Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea gave our Mt Waverley office staff a wonderful excuse for cake, whilst raising funds for the Cancer Council.

As with recent previous quarters, we remain very optimistic about the demand for engineering, manufacturing & construction professionals and we’re continuing to build our own internal team strongly as a result. We believe this will continue into at least the medium term future. The main contributors are solid business confidence and the pipeline of infrastructure projects.

Following are more specific observations of some of the key engineering & technical markets in which we operate. Continue reading →

It seems to be popular belief that manufacturing is an old and dying industry and we can’t compete with lower wage nations. The facts state otherwise. The Australian Industry Group’s Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) has jumped to 63.1 in March. This is a record level and the previous record of 62.1 was set in 2002. Anything above 50 indicates expansion in manufacturing. The index has not been below 50 since 2016.

Manufacturing recruitment is also a beneficiary of this trend. Our labour hire business which operates primarily in manufacturing is trading at record levels and we have very strong demand for the recruitment of manufacturing professionals and tradespeople.

Victorian-based engineers will soon be required to participate in a mandatory registration scheme being introduced by the Victorian government. The aim is to highlight the critical nature of engineering and increase public confidence in the profession. A similar registry currently exists in Queensland.

The Victorian government has been working closely with Engineers Australia on the registration scheme to ensure the complex nature of engineers’ work and the importance their role plays in safeguarding the general public remains at a very high level. They believe that it is particularly important in light of current and upcoming infrastructure projects such as the Metro Tunnel, West Gate Tunnel and the Level Crossing Removal Program.

The Victorian government have indicated that a long transition period would be necessary to the new scheme to avoid unwarranted disruption to both engineers and businesses.

Recent media reports are boasting of business confidence and in our experience, since returning from the Christmas / New Year break we certainly support this. Clients are investing in the recruitment of staff for casual and permanent employment. Australian companies are continuing to develop successful and innovative products which stack up well internationally. Others are pursuing major projects in the rail and roads sectors of infrastructure. All this is great news for engineering, manufacturing and technical talent, but the clear message we get from our clients is that they are not willing to compromise and are prepared to wait for the right calibre of candidate.

On another note, our recruitment methodology is changing with more emphasis on searching for candidates rather than advertising roles so it is vital that candidates update their online profiles and resumes. Otherwise, we might miss you because your details are out of date!

Following are our observations in the areas for which we actively recruit.  Continue reading →

Whilst consumers are not overly optimistic at the moment, business confidence is strong and in our experience over the past quarter, businesses are investing in the recruitment of staff. Infrastructure projects will continue to push money through their supply chains in the longer term, the AUD is sitting at a reasonably comfortable level for exporters and a range of Aussie companies continue to develop successful and innovative products which stack up well internationally. All this is great news for engineering and technical talent although we are not seeing bidding wars for talent and salaries are generally stable.

Following are more specific observations of some of the key engineering and technical markets in which we operate. Continue reading →