Technical & Engineering Recruitment Market Commentary – April 2016
We’ve seen more client demand for staffing in the past quarter than since the GFC hit in 2008. We believe that an uptick in business confidence combined with a lower Australian dollar have been combining well to push this demand. It was fantastic to see the most recent Australian Industry Group PMI, reporting that manufacturing had its strongest month in March in the past 12 years.
Client expectations in terms of securing quality employees have not dropped so there has been fiercer competition for the better candidates. Despite the traditional recruitment slowdown which invariably occurs when we have a looming election, the pipeline of work for the next couple of months is largely still very strong.
Following are more specific observations of some of the key engineering and technical markets in which we operate.
Building & Mechanical Services
Building services is still in a difficult space and those firms which are doing well have diversified either geographically or across commercial, industrial and multi-unit residential. Margins are still tight and consequently recruitment is limited.
Demand from the contractor side in mechanical services on the other hand remains very high both in Melbourne and Sydney. We have successfully recruited large numbers of HVAC & refrigeration technicians, particularly in NSW for landmark existing sites. Other roles we are seeking candidates for are fire drafters, contract managers and project managers.
Engineering and Drafting
There has been a significant upturn in requirements for senior engineers, engineering consultants, product design & mechanical engineers, industrial designers, project engineers and engineering managers, especially in niche businesses such as heavy transport components, mining wear products, rail infrastructure (including rolling stock) and product development. Sydney has probably generated slightly more demand than Melbourne in the past few months.
Drafting/CAD design has continued to be slow with some enquiries for contract drafters to work in Sydney in areas such as building facade design and recreational vehicles. Requirements in Melbourne have almost dried up in the sectors in which we operate.
Manufacturing
Australian manufacturing is experiencing a stunning resurgence and has seen demand for manufacturing professionals and labour hire increase dramatically over the usually quieter first quarter and we believe things are going to get even busier. The increase is particularly noticeable in the food and beverage sectors, with market conditions favouring local manufacture and export. There is also strong growth in the HVAC and metals sectors.
We have been recruiting a range of senior manufacturing professional roles such as manufacturing & operations managers, distribution managers and quality specialists. In labour hire, clients have had heavy requirements for process workers, machine operators, blenders, assemblers, warehouse assistants and forklift drivers. Strong demand for labour has led to shortages of the better candidates and we’re generally taking double the amount of time to find the same number of quality employees compared with last year. Based on feedback from key clients, the next 2 months will be even stronger.
Technology
The busiest quarter since the GFC has come and gone, and now there seems to be a quietening down. What prompts such a massive rush to hire and then a slowing down, only economists and political commentators can fathom, but from a recruiter’s perspective, it is unpredictable. Demand for software, firmware, web and hardware developers has been high and in some areas – C++ for real world applications – remains high. Companies which are innovating insist on transferable skills from platform to platform and from high level to low, such as ability to work within the kernel of an OS like Linux. Most new roles which we’ve worked on recently have been permanent, not contract. Looking ahead, with a federal election set for July, it could indicate a sluggish end to the financial year. But, we remain hopeful, as we always do, that demand and availability will meet in that purple zone of equality – enough good candidates for jobs and enough good jobs for candidates. But for the moment we are struggling to find a rich seam of really talented C++ developers/programmers – so where are you all?
