Technical & Engineering Recruitment – Market Commentary July 2014

We slowly appear to be emerging from the gloom cast over hiring confidence by the federal budget process, although demand is still very uneven. Companies associated with residential construction and parts of technology have been the stand-out sectors. As always, there are exceptions in any industry and those companies which are more innovative are recruiting more actively. Sydney is producing more enquiry from clients than Melbourne at present. We haven’t experienced any uptick in demand associated with the massive infrastructure spends detailed by the Federal government in May’s budget. We expect this will take some time to result in significant employment opportunities. Following are more specific observations of some of the key technical and engineering recruitment markets in which we operate.

Building/Mechanical Services

Victoria

Requirements for Building Services Engineers have been scarce in the consulting arena. However demand in Mechanical Services has been very high. We have successfully recruited Project Managers, Service Managers and Estimators in the past few months. The major consultants are advising “steady as she goes” re staffing requirements and they anticipate that they will remain so until the end of 2014.

NSW

We are actively recruiting trade qualified contractors in the MEP discipline for both contractors and consultancies. The contractor market is definitely more aggressive with projects in Barangaroo and the construction of the new convention and entertainment centre.

Consulting Engineering

The market has been very slow although a number of projects are in the pipeline and we are hoping that these will create opportunities in the next 3- 6 months for design and project work. Most of the consultancies we deal with are working on pre tenders and concept design for large infrastructure projects. We are always interested in hearing from all engineering disciplines for design and project management so please don’t hesitate to call for further information.

Drafting

Victoria

The local market for Drafting is best described as dormant. There have only been very short term requirements for Architectural Drafters for residential work requiring AutoCAD 2D and ArchiCAD. Assignments have been on a part-time basis or ad-hoc as project demand requires. The traditional CAD Drafter roles in manufacturing and product development have been hardest hit. 3D Printing is the current vogue and it might be a good idea to get skilled up in this area especially in relation to additive manufacture.

NSW

The drafting market has been solid with rural clients looking for capable contractors with INVENTOR, SOLIDWORKS, AutoCAD and Revit experience. Again, the large engineering consultancies are not really busy but the small to medium sized enterprises that work within the commercial and retail space are still recruiting and they are looking for both permanent and contract employees.

Manufacturing

This last quarter has shown an increase in demand for both permanent and on-hired contract roles in manufacturing. We have had success placing candidates in positions in the food, rubber and plastics, electronics, automotive and aviation sectors, both locally and overseas in China.

With respect to permanent professional engineering/technical we have been busy recruiting a COO, Operations Managers, After Sales Service Engineers, Quality Managers, a Quality Systems Coordinator, a Transmission Calibration Engineer, Manufacturing Engineers, Procurement Managers and Maintenance Engineers.

Our labour hire division in Melbourne has had the best quarter for quite a few years, particularly with respect to the electronics, air-conditioning and food sectors. The roles have been largely packers, assemblers, solderers, technicians and warehouse staff. Confidence is growing and we feel very positive that the next couple of quarters should show continued improvement across the board.

Labour hire in Sydney has experienced steady demand for warehousing staff and process workers this past quarter. We have noticed that companies are still quite cautious with their hiring intentions however, with most industrial and warehouse roles being temp to perm positions. We are expecting demand for pipe fitters and skilled trade assistants to increase in the coming weeks due to a new project commencing with one of our cornerstone clients. The first quarter in the new financial year is looking good as we are already experiencing a steady increase in client enquiries.

Candidates, remember to register with LinkedIn if you have not done so already. If you are currently looking for work, take the time to prepare for interview. Don’t waste the interview potential by failing to do your research and preparation in advance. Prospective employers are skilled at identifying those candidates who have taken the time to prepare and think favourably of those candidates who care enough to do their homework.

Technology

Hiring activity in electronics, firmware and software engineering for “real products and solutions” continues to be frustratingly patchy and with the usual insistence on an exact fit. We’re often trying to persuade our clients to let a good person with 80-90% of their requirements “grow” into the job. Opportunities for graduates and juniors seem scarce – where are the companies who are prepared to offer a breakthrough opportunity for a couple of good graduates each year? Our advice for graduates and juniors – make it hard for the recruiter to turn you down by explaining why the specific job you have applied for really interests you. Don’t just say everything you have done at University but explain why you have the experience that the job requires, even if it’s only minimal exposure. We expect vacancy levels to increase soon, and the capacity of businesses to grow and succeed will not depend just on waiting indefinitely for the perfect fit, but on the willingness of both parties to approach a challenge with good will and make it work.

Interestingly, there have been a number of enquiries for specialist Test Engineers with experience of test design and automated test for hardware. Test, which has for so long been seen as the poor relation of “product design”, may be coming into its own as a mainstream design and innovation field. At interview, what tends to count as much as ability to do test design is desire to do test design as an end in itself, rather than as a stepping stone to product design. An underlying yearning to design end products can be a fatal flaw in a test interview, as the employer needs a long term commitment to test in most cases. Be on your guard for a question like “So, what type of job would you really like?” when you have applied for a test role. Very sneaky question!

Salaries remain static by and large, except in emerging areas like iOS/Android for mobile applications and OS development and PHP for creative web design where contract rates in particular seem to fluctuate wildly. Otherwise, as always, our advice is to take a flexible posture in salary negotiation, as there is no point in pricing oneself out of the job unnecessarily.