Technical & Engineering Recruitment Market Commentary – July 2017

Both the past quarter and past year have been our strongest in engineering & technical recruitment for a long time. We’ve received a lot of incoming enquiry from clients looking to boost the talent within their teams. As always in technical recruitment, the roles are highly specialised and almost no two roles have the same requirements.  

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

Building & Mechanical Services

In the mechanical services sector, we are still active on the contractor side with continual requirements across all positions. In particular, we are seeking technicians experienced in HVAC, fire protection and data centres throughout Melbourne and Sydney. There is also need for service technicians in Canberra. CAD drafters with Revit MEP are in strong demand in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. 

The need is similar for more senior roles especially for site managers, project managers and advisory services. 

Many of these roles are not advertised. Instead, we are relying upon recommendations/referrals, social media and network searching. So if you are on the market we need to know about you. Send us your current resume to get noticed. Drafting roles are available on a permanent or hourly engagement basis.

Engineering & Drafting

We are seeing a steady stream of small to medium sized businesses looking for experienced drafters and designers who are able to hit the ground running and deliver results in the short-term. The requirements are across a number of industry sectors including specialist vehicle fit-out, miniature devices, civil, structural and mechanical services. The most popular CAD skills are still Solidworks, AutoCAD and Revit. Some work is on an hourly basis for terms between 4 weeks and several months. Permanent roles are scarcer but they are still around. This is relatively good news for engineers/drafters and designers who have extensive and relevant work experience, but not so great for newly qualified candidates. As an example of the roles we’re handling, we are currently looking for a mechanical engineer who possesses specific product design experience with small-scale electromechanical consumer products in Sydney. We have had many, many applicants, but the right one is still evading us. 

At another level, there has been a definite uptick in requirements for service technicians, either trade or tertiary qualified.  We are actively looking for exceptional technicians with skills in mechanical servicing of CNC machine tools, fuel distribution systems and electronics involving LED technology. 

Similarly, we have experienced an increase in sales manager roles for qualified engineers and at the top end, we are seeking an engineering manager for power generation equipment.

 

 

Manufacturing

With the exception of some specific industry sectors such as food or electronics, the manufacturing industry seems to have quietened down recently. There are still good roles to be found, for example, production supervisors for food processing and a production manager for a rubber products manufacturer in Melbourne.

Large scale manufacturing jobs are becoming very rare and a lot of very highly skilled and experienced manufacturing professionals are honing in on the few positions that are available.

Currently, we are seeking an experienced Applications Engineer for a company in Brisbane who can run a major CNC machine tool installation. 

So whilst manufacturing is seen as quiet there are some very interesting roles available that candidates may or may not see advertised. Don’t miss out on these types of opportunities.

 

Software & Hardware Engineering

The laws of supply and demand rule in most areas of business and again we have seen this kick in as regards vacancies which appear to have dropped substantially.  At the same time, the availability of extremely competent and highly motivated developers, in particular, has dipped, which has created a sort of mini doldrum experience in recent weeks!  No doubt this will change, but it has proved to be a slower end to the financial year than was anticipated back in the autumn.  

The contract market especially has slumped in electronics and software engineering. As usual, those employers who have been seeking to hire can develop a rather unrealistic expectation as to the availability and volume of candidates who might be on the market at any one time. It may be, therefore, that in the areas of hardware, firmware and software design and development we are again approaching a near “full employment” situation.  That is not to say that nobody is still out there and struggling to find a job, there are a good many people in that category, but the likelihood of an employer taking someone on with potential and giving them time to develop and hone their skills is less and less.

Demand for hardware, firmware, software and web developers will pick up now that we have passed EOFY, we assert with confidence, so look out for a surge in positions and hopefully in contracting too.  As always, candidates, remember that employers will not grab you unless you can make a compelling case for them to do so – based partly on the relevance of your experience and the enthusiasm and energy you display towards getting the job that is on offer.  And if you do not jump out to us as a person to hire, why would we recommend you to someone else?  You need to be fully motivated, no matter how many knocks you have had. Good luck! 

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