Recruitment specialists
The mean average salary for candidates placed over the 12 months was £40,000 and 40% of the roles pitched above this level. There is healthy demand for experienced HR professionals who can manage change and drive growth strategy in the uncertain economic climate.
As addressed in previous updates, the most in-demand specialist experience came from the talent and recruitment sector, followed by learning and development.
Although three quarters of our successful candidates were placed into generalist roles, there has been continued demand for great recruiters, especially within fast growth businesses in the digital arena. Within entrepreneurial start-ups, success is talent-driven – only brands with the brightest talent will prosper. As a result, companies in this area are investing in experienced recruiters to manage additional hiring and specific acquisitions to ensure maximum ROI.
The interim market displays further growth and movement, boosted by the need of companies to bring people on board to manage additional project-based hires.
Training and development
Employers are also investing in their existing talent. Established brands are seeking out experienced senior professionals who are able to implement and deliver creative training programmes which have a positive impact on employee attitude, customer experience and ultimately the bottom line. Experienced HR professionals who are able to facilitate and monitor ongoing programmes designed to up-skill their teams are in high demand.
Marketing, communications and digital
Throughout 2012 there has been a significant increase of recruiting into the marketing, communications and digital agency sectors – last year, one third of all placements were into these industries. As we predicted in our last update, we continue to see a number of smaller organisations and even start ups choosing to build their own HR function rather than relying on outsourcing. This is being driven in part by the development of the tech hub around Old Street which has become known as ‘Silicon Roundabout’ or ‘Tech City.’
The new retail
Throughout 2012, a fifth of our HR placements were within fashion and retail, and many of these were in ecommerce due to the recent boom in online retail.
This trend looks set to continue into 2013. Amazon has announced plans to expand its global development hub, hiring 100 staff to work on new projects and Asos grew its UK retail revenues by 34% to £35.7m over December, which indicates future growth in headcount.
As the online retail space continues to grow, HR coordinators with solid experience gained in fast-paced, commercial organisations will be in further demand.
Thats entertainment
14% of the roles we placed in 2012 were into the film and TV industries. Some of these professionals were drafted to manage change, restructuring, and the acquisition of fresh talent to ease the ongoing transition from physical to digital media.
Directors cut
At the senior end of the market, there has been continued demand for director-level HR candidates to work with entrepreneurial and growth businesses. This has been most evident within digital entertainment and online retail sectors where there is a need to establish HR functions and define the business’s talent attraction strategy. The only source of knowledge is experience and HR directors who are looking for fresh challenges often enjoy the freedom and creative flair that they’re able to bring to exciting new ventures such as these.