Engineering & Technical Recruitment Market Commentary January 2013
Although we’re only a few weeks into the new year, it’s been a very interesting start to 2013. Australia Wide Personnel has experienced a very pronounced increase in recruitment assignments coming into our Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane offices. The roles have been coming from both existing and new clients. As a consequence, we’re pretty optimistic about the prospects for 2013.
As a very broad generalisation, when we look at the clients who are hiring at the moment they appear to be innovating in one way or another. They’re either developing new products or service offerings which are unique or they’re using innovation in their processes to gain competitive advantage. Australia is changing quickly and it’s great to witness a range of companies changing with it in a positive manner and thereby creating career opportunities for existing and future staff members.
Automotive and Manufacturing
The automotive industry reports an exceptional year in 2012 for new car sales but imports were the overwhelming winners. At the tier one level we have had success in placing very specific electronics engineers and robotic automation specialists. The news that Ford Performance Vehicles was absorbed within Ford was the end of a long era for us as we had been a provider of recruitment services since the days of Tickford Vehicle Engineering. A big thank you for everyone that worked for us at FPV and those we placed in permanent roles – good luck in the future. Niche opportunities will continue to come in but in our opinion, not in big numbers
General manufacturing opportunities for casual staff in the food related repackaging sector, mechanical services and electronics assembly areas have dramatically turned around. We now have almost unprecedented levels of requirements for skilled process and assembly workers in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.
In Sydney, the last quarter of 2013 saw continued growth in the waste and manufacturing sectors, especially in the lead up to Xmas. Most clients are predicting a solid start to 2013 with continued growth and opportunities for process workers, plant operators and senior managers.
Building Services
Since our last report little seems to have changed.
The Melbourne market is still generally flat and clients that we’ve spoken to continue to adjust to difficult economic conditions and attempt to secure enough work for the staff they have retained.
The Sydney market is still a mixed bag. Whilst some clients are struggling, others believe they have enough work to see them through what they consider will be another difficult year in 2013. The other states appear to be in a similar position to what they were in when we last reported in October.
Conversely, we are talking to a number of clients who have a positive outlook for the new year and in anticipation of better trading conditions, have briefed us on their future requirements for engineering and technical staff – watch this space.
Civil Construction
Again with the lack of government spending, we are witnessing a situation where there is simply not enough work to go around. However, when a civil contractor lands a project they move very quickly to secure the talent required. The tier 2 and 3 contractors are definitely more active in the recruitment space than their tier 1 counterparts. This is due to the fact that when it is a client driven market (such as we are in now) candidates tend to apply for a broader range of opportunities. Consequently, the tier 2 and 3 contractors are picking up some great talent.
Consulting Engineering
In NSW the last quarter of 2012 was slow in recruiting for the consulting engineering sector for permanent placements but we did see an increase in demand for contract engineers in consulting companies. Most of the major companies have been busy putting together tenders with existing staff members for major projects in the first half of this year. This will increase the demand for both contract and permanent staff across the consulting engineering sector. Some of the smaller consultancies have continued to recruit design engineers across all disciplines fo retail and commercial developments.
We are always interested in seeing resumes of experienced design and project engineers for infrastructure projects across NSW.
In Queensland with the arrival of 2013 the Consulting Engineering space is still relatively quiet. The lack of government spending, unstable overseas economies and the actions of some major organisations ‘opting out’ have all played their part in depressing the employment market. Where we are seeing some growth is within the Oil & Gas sector – a sector which a lot of consulting companies are now aiming to get more involved in. Although highly competitive, many consulting companies are looking to grow their reputations in Oil & Gas.
There is work in Queensland, especially in the central to northern areas but we would encourage candidates to look at all aspects of the opportunities with an open mind as the market today is very different to the market of 7-9 months ago.
Drafting
Requirements in the Melbourne market for CAD Drafters have been “mixed” for us for contract opportunities and “poor” for permanent roles. We had a surprising upturn just prior to Christmas for short term contracts with smaller manufacturers requiring AutoCAD and SolidWorks skills that were quickly filled. Most companies are telling us that their need for drafters is minimal and whatever contract work they have is for periods of 3 weeks to a month. Having said that, we have seen an increase in incoming general employment enquiries since our reopening early January so hopefully this is a sign that things will improve.
The drafting industry in NSW has continued to be slow across all disciplines mainly due to a number of mining and infrastructure projects being put on hold. We have still been recruiting for drafting personnel but mainly on a temp and contract basis. In the last month we have been recruiting for Architectural, Mechanical and Structural Drafters for specialist projects including facades, retail and commercial. Based on discussions with our clients towards the end of last year, 2013 is looking promising with some major projects on the horizon.
We are always on the lookout for design drafters with ArchiCAD, SolidWorks, Revit and other 3D design packages.
Electronics, Software and Communications
The fiscal cliff disaster has been averted, the New Year of promise has begun and we await with bated breath the events that will shape the year. 2012 was the year that promised much and delivered partly – can 2013 be better? As always there are some hopeful signs. In electronics, firmware and software, several organisations are potentially in hiring mode, yet no sector is an island – each sector depends to some degree on the growth and confidence of others. We need to see an across the board jump in confidence. It is particularly tough on the less experienced and new entrant candidates, as companies are tending to play safe and hire experienced, proven engineers and developers and programmers. When jobs are few, employers see it as a buyer’s market and they tighten their specification in terms of skill and desired candidate behaviours. The days of “he/she seems OK, let’s give him/her a go” are long gone, if they ever existed, and I think they did. Every new entrant to the job market needs a break, and sadly, the recruiter is not normally in a position to be able to do this. Our job is to find the best possible person for the job, so whether you are a new graduate or have umpteen years of experience, you need to know why you have applied for the specific job in question and have thought in detail about what you can bring to the table in terms of expertise, application and desire to make a difference. OK, so perhaps you are not a walking data sheet for a particular microcontroller or software library, you can always learn this, but you can at least think in detail about the position you are interested in and really do some homework in advance to show that are keen and willing. Salaries? Yes, you should be paid. How much? Be flexible, the market is under severe salary pressure but if the job is what you really want, then perhaps it is worth making the sacrifice. Best of luck.
Mining
Queensland is now suffering from the age old custom of ‘having all your eggs in the one basket’. When mining was booming we couldn’t get enough professional talent. Now we are seeing some highly skilled mining professionals that simply cannot get work. Don’t get me wrong, the mining industry is still moving ahead at a reasonable pace but it may be some time before we see that kind of action again. We still have vacancies for mining professionals but we are having issues with candidates not bending on some of the conditions that they have become accustomed to. FIFO rosters for example are becoming more client driven than candidate driven as they once were. This is due to the owner operators adjusting to the current market conditions to save cost and to better manage their current staffing levels, rather than the path of a new hire.
One sure way to remain unemployed in the mining industry is to not move with the current times. We would recommend that some flexibility be considered during these tough economic times.
Invitation to join our LinkedIn Group, “Australian Engineering Career Network”
Are you an engineer or do you recruit engineers? If so, we’d like to invite you to join our LinkedIn Group, Australian Engineering Career Network by clicking here.
Operating for 33 years, Australia Wide Personnel is one of the largest recruiters of engineers in Australia. We feel this places us well to host a LinkedIn Group which offers the following:
- Online participation in engineering careers discussions with fellow engineers and recruiters of engineers – share your experience and knowledge, ask questions of other engineering professionals and expand your network of professional engineering contacts.
- “Ask an Engineering Recruiter a Question”.
- Ability to post or access engineering jobs listed by group members.
- Access to regular engineering news feeds.
The Group is growing rapidly and has over 2200 members. If you know of other engineers who may like to join this group, please forward this email to them. If you would like to join the Group but are not a member of LinkedIn, you will need to join LinkedIn first (free) by using the same link above.
Visit the Australia Wide Personnel website for our newly launched “Daily Job Hunting Tip”
www.australiawide.com.au
Each day a new “Daily Job Hunting Tip” will be posted on the Australia Wide Personnel website. All of our consultants have contributed and pooled their vast recruitment experience to provide these tips. Some are obvious (but it’s good to be reminded) – others are less so. Check out the right hand side of our home page each day for the new tip. We hope you gain value from them.
