Towards the end of 2013 we saw business confidence start to rise, which should feed through into the labour market in the first few months of 2014. Australia’s economy is maintaining momentum and consumer confidence is strong heading into 2014.
Consumer sentiment is being buoyed by low interest rates, rising house and share prices, and relatively stable unemployment. Whilst there are challenges in Canberra itself the Australian economy is expected to grow by 2.8 per cent in 2014, at a slightly faster rate than in 2013 and many professional services firms are already indicating their intentions in 2014.
This will lead to increasing staff turnover as candidates become more confident to explore their options. Many employers also tell us they are looking to secure candidates who can start early in the new calendar year. A big area of growth in 2014 will be crossover roles – as the technology, marketing and finance worlds integrate, it will be key to find people who can move across all sectors, with multilevel knowledge. Also the ability to harness the whole notion of digital marketing and social media will be important, to the point where these channels are not an add-on but become seamlessly incorporated into the main game.
The top 3 hot topics we’re anticipating are:
1. Skills shortage catch-22: Expect high-level skilled professionals in specific sectors to be in short supply. While unemployment is expected to rise in 2014, according to Treasurer Joe Hockey, employers still struggle to attract highly skilled and experienced professionals, particularly in technical areas such as IT, construction and engineering. Demand is not evident in every function in every region, but we are seeing sustained demand for high skill professionals.
2. IT project activity: We are seeing a much greater increase in IT permanent hiring in the commercial sector. People with strong development skills with Java and .Net are in particular demand. Digital marketing skills are still in high demand and the IT sales market has become more bullish, which will continue in 2014 as the Government evaluates and retenders a range of significant IT projects.
3. Temporary hires: Overall the ACT has seen an increase in temporary hires in both the commercial and government space. Organisations are increasingly outsourcing employee risk, payroll and compliance functions through an effective payroll service, such as through Hays. This trend will continue in 2014 as organisations unable to extend direct engagements act to keep skills onboard so that workloads are completed.
For more information please get in contact with me directly on 02 6112 7663.
