Job vacancies to swallow up candidates

By Josephine Asher

The next six months are tipped to be a job hunters’ market as employers reclaim confidence in the wake of the global financial crisis.

July saw an optimistic turnaround after a three-month slide with job vacancies increasing 13.9 per cent, according to the latest data from one of Australia’s largest recruitment firms – IPA.

IPA’s general manager of sales and marketing, Darrell Hewton, says companies were starting to see enough certainty to expand their teams.

“Employers are sitting with more confidence and they’re optimistic about what the next six to 12 months will look like,” Hewton says.

He warns employers that candidate shortages were reappearing on the recruiter’s radars, indicating that job hunters would be the beneficiaries of shortages.

“The balance of power will continue to shift to candidates as we move into a market where skills shortages continue to increase,” he says.

IPA also predicts candidates’ will be able to secure higher salaries through their stronger bargaining power over the next 6-12 months.

Employees currently switching jobs were generally seeking modest wage increases of three to five per cent, on par with what they could expect if they stayed in their current jobs.

“As the amount of jobs continue to absorb active jobseekers that pool is going to become scarcer and employers are going to be competing for [the same] employee,” Hewton says.

“That’s why we’ve got Federal Government [proposals] focusing on upskilling current employees.”

Hewton predicts workers in the information technology sector would be amongst the highest in demand with the development of national broadband network.

CareerOne.com.au, August 5, 2010.