40 per cent of executives say it’s challenging to find skilled talent: Survey
While the recession may technically be over, the unemployment rate remains relatively high. In August, it rose to 8.1 per cent in Canada as more people began looking for jobs.
With so many professionals still out of work, it would appear locating and hiring new talent would be fairly easy.
But many employers are discovering this is not necessarily the case, with 40 per cent of executives saying it is challenging to find skilled talent today, according to the latest Robert Half Professional Employment Report.
Eighty-six per cent of more than 1,000 executives interviewed say they are very or somewhat confident in their companies’ prospects for business growth in the fourth quarter. At the same time, 10 per cent of executives expect to increase hiring in professional occupations in the fourth quarter of 2010, up from eight per cent in the third-quarter forecast. This means the competition for the most skilled and experienced professionals is only going to get tighter.
Many organizations that cut back during the downturn are discovering they lack the personnel to move forward with business goals, particularly if they’re already seeing an increase in demand.
Hot professions
The following professionals are in greatest demand, according to the employment report:
• staff and senior accountants
• financial analysts
• business systems analysts
• network administrators (those experienced in cloud computing, voice-over-Internet protocol and software as a service are in particularly high demand)
• applications developers and web developers (those experienced in interactive web functionality and social media are in the greatest demand)
• help desk and desktop support professionals
• information architects
• flash developers
• search engine optimization specialists.
Hot legal areas
In the legal field, the hottest practice areas include:
• litigation (legal assistants, paralegals and associates are needed to handle an increase in legal disputes and litigation)
• corporate law (demand is particularly strong for lawyers with at least three years of general corporate legal experience and a focus on mergers and acquisitions)
• intellectual property (lawyers, patent agents and paralegals with three to five years’ experience are being recruited to handle an increase in patent filings and applications).
Using staffing firms to secure top talent
With many employers competing for the same professionals, it can be challenging to find the people a company needs. An online job posting can yield an overwhelming number of resumés but many of the applications are likely to be from unqualified candidates. It can take considerable time and effort to review these and identify individuals who meet even the basic requirements.
One solution is to use the services of a staffing firm that has vast networks in the business community and often knows of individuals who may not be actively looking for employment but are open to promising job opportunities. By working with a staffing firm, employers can gain access to applicants they wouldn’t otherwise encounter.
At the same time, staffing professionals handle the initial screening process for clients. So, busy managers only see the resumés of and meet with individuals who match all of their specifications. This can save valuable time and allow leaders to focus on other initiatives.
If a business isn’t quite ready to commit to a full-time hire, staffing firms can also provide individuals on a temporary-to-full-time arrangement. In this situation, a professional would begin working for a company as a temporary employee and then receive a full-time job offer if she excels in the role. This can be an ideal approach for companies that want to ensure they have a sustained need prior to adding head count. It also allows managers to assess performance before making a hiring decision.
Another popular approach is to rely on temporary or project professionals provided by a staffing firm. This type of support can prove beneficial in a variety of situations, such as a longer-than-expected vacancy, high workloads due to seasonal or one-time projects or an immediate need for expertise that doesn’t exist internally.
Getting the most from a staffing firm
When an organization makes the decision to work with a staffing firm, selecting the right partner is a critical step.
Ask for referrals from trusted business contacts and consider the organization’s history. Look for firms that specialize in filling the types of positions that are open, because their representatives are best able to understand an organization’s hiring needs.
Once the staffing firm has been selected, it’s critical to give the firm as much information about the vacancy as possible. For instance, rather than just saying the company needs a full-time network administrator with strong communication skills, explain that the role requires frequent interaction with individuals throughout the company, so the ideal candidate must be adept at sharing complex technical information with people who have diverse backgrounds.
The better a staffing professional understands an organization’s unique needs, the better he will be able to identify appropriate temporary or full-time professionals for the opening.
Even if an organization isn’t currently hiring, it’s important to develop a recruitment strategy. Companies that are well-prepared will have the best chances of securing the most in-demand talent.
Dianne Hunnam-Jones is the Toronto-based president of specialized staffing firm Robert Half International. To download a complimentary copy of the Robert Half Professional Employment Report, please visit www.roberthalf.ca/per.
