Decline in white collar jobs slows
> Job shedding slows > Market returning to stability > 16 per cent predict new hires
The decline in white collar employment is showing signs of slowing, according to the latest research by recruitment specialists Michael Page.
Of the 400 senior managers surveyed, 51 per cent predicted no further redundancies within their organisation in the next 12 months and 16 per cent flagged increased headcount.
A sizeable 49 per cent predicted better business conditions by year’s end while 27 per cent believed an upturn in that time period was unlikely and 24 per cent wouldn’t commit either way.
To cope with the downturn, 35 per cent of the organisations represented in the survey group had frozen salaries while 18 per cent had directed staff to take paid leave and 9 per cent reduced paid working hours.
The senior managers surveyed rate “strong leadership” as the most effective way to keep good staff (51 per cent) with 31 per cent nominating transparent communication as an important retention tool. Only 14 per cent believed offering workplace flexibility was an effective retention tool.
Regional managing director of Michael Page Australia and New Zealand Phillip Guest sees the survey as a signal conditions were stabilising but says the market is not yet in “recovery”.
Michael Page provides recruitment services across 12 sectors including finance and banking, which experienced “sharp cuts during the second half of 2008.”
Mr Guest warned employers not to be complacent about the skills shortage that hovered on the edge of the current downturn and that will return with a recovery when it comes.
He told media: “Our advice to employers is that staff retention is even more important during a downturn. Companies should not operate on the assumption that the skills lost will be readily available when they are required again.”
Echoing expert advice now ricocheting around the corporate sector across the globe about the importance of positioning for recovery he added: “In our experience, the companies that continue to invest in business critical skills are the ones to gain market share in the first stage of the upturn.”
The Michael Page research follows a raft of recent job research including official Australian Bureau of Statistic figures release on June 11 showing how unemployment rose in May from 5.4 per cent to 5.7 per cent.
ANZ job ad figures for May also recorded a decline – its 13th consecutive monthly decline. However ANZ head economist Warren Hogan told media that declining job ad numbers had probably stabilised but he remaines “cautious about the outlook for the labour market and economic growth over the second half of 2009.”
