Engineering Recruitment – Market Commentary – January 2021
A lot has changed in the last quarter with a very strong upsurge in the number of new opportunities that our team are working diligently on. Many clients appear to have come out of hibernation mode and are now looking forward to a brighter future, with the result that we saw a large number of new permanent opportunities eventuate in the past month. Other clients have projects to deliver and milestones to achieve, and hence are looking for contract positions to be filled as soon as practicably possible. Long may Australia remain COVID-free as it has a big impact on business confidence.
We have also seen an increase in the number of candidates approaching us, looking to explore the job market for a new opportunity. Candidates seem to be either looking for a fresh start or simply dipping their toes into the market to test the current conditions.
We hope you enjoy this quarter’s market commentary.
Engineering & Manufacturing Operations
Although January started off slowly, these last 2 weeks have provided us with a real sense of optimism. Not only is the rate of client enquiries up, the number of candidates applying for roles appears to be on the increase also. 2021 is in stark contrast to the last few months of 2020, and businesses appear to be confident.
The roles clients seek to fill are varied and ranging from Mechanical Engineers, Manufacturing Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Operations Managers, along with positions such as Process Engineers and Sales Representatives. The clients’ industries range from automotive, general manufacturing and food, to scientific, medical and machine manufacturing.
Many companies have made the successful transition to be able to offer hybrid working from home/office arrangements for their staff in the past year. Likewise, many companies have made the decision to have products which were previously manufactured overseas, now manufactured locally. We think these are both very positive trends.
With the emergence of vaccines and the sustained ‘zero to low’ cases of community transmission of COVID-19 across Australia, the future looks very positive.
Stay safe all…
Building & Mechanical Services
What a change within one quarter! Businesses are now much more confident, especially in Victoria and NSW. They are clearly thinking, “Where do we want to be at the end of 2021?” and they’re making hiring decisions based on that question. We are recruiting strongly for a wide range of positions in building services across VIC, NSW and ACT currently.
In addition, we have various roles available with a multi-national automation company in Melbourne’s South East. If you are a Systems Engineer based in Adelaide or are in Melbourne but willing to travel to SA every 2 weeks then we have a role with a medical projects company. See our website to apply.
Here’s to a much better year than the last!
Technology
Looking back during the midst of the pandemic, it was worrying, unpredictable and difficult to imagine how or when the economy would allow hiring to resume. 10 months later we are slowly moving to a world of work that is changing, and some sectors appear to be in a much stronger position than others.
Within Technology, we have definitely seen the job market take a turn for the positive and have certainly started our first quarter of 2021 with a “bang”. From Software Engineers, Validation Engineers, Embedded Developers, Hardware Engineers to QA Managers, we have seen our sector expanding rapidly. It is very encouraging to see indications of growth while the market shifts to adapt to new economic changes.
As the economy grows and recruitment booms, our expertise as recruiters will be essential to helping businesses recover. This will be a really rewarding time for recruiters – helping candidates get back into work is one of the best parts of our job.
PS
Our Engineering Career Journeys podcast series continues and we released another 5 episodes since our last Market Commentary. Please check them out:
Josiah Mpofu, Engineering & Maintenance Manager, DIC Corporation
Mike Rigby, Technical Director, Thales Australia
Jefferson Harcourt, Executive Chairman, Grey Innovation
