Q2 HR Market Update

Welcome to the Q2 HR Market Update 2017 from Macmillan Davies, a summary of our insights into the current HR market in the UK, Asia & Australia. 

UK

Continuing the trend of late last year, we are still seeing a high demand for HR generalists and Business Partners at the operational to senior manager level coupled with a continued shortage of specialist reward and talent/OD talent at the mid-salary range (£50-£70k).

With the uncertainty of the Brexit negotiations as well as the recent snap election, businesses are remaining cautious; managing hiring costs but also investing in their core staff and focusing on employee retention and succession planning. This is reflected in the senior end of the market remaining sluggish with salaries under pressure at this level.

Financial Services has seen a gradual uptick since January as organisations realise that even in an uncertain economic climate, business still continues, along with the people agenda. Generalists with experience of a wide remit are increasingly in demand where strong technical HR operators are required more than a strategic, growth/change leader.

The first half of 2017 has seen an increase in fixed term contracts, particularly at the HR Advisor level with these roles often extending or turning permanent. This is being driven by a real mix of factors such as economic & market factors, maternity covers and projects.

In the Midlands we are seeing increasing growth and development in the manufacturing industries, noticeably in relation to automotive and aerospace arenas. While the main growth areas in the North West are the entrepreneurial / digital and ecommerce businesses, undergoing rapid growth and investing in the necessary hires and infrastructure to amplify it further.

Darren Hayman & Angela Franks - Macmillan Davies

Asia

Demand for HR talent in Asia has been on the rise this year, after a particularly below par 2016. Hiring volumes in Hong Kong and Singapore are, slowly but surely, increasing with more robust recruitment being seen in China.

In Hong Kong and Singapore the banks have started to hire again with the insurance sector continuing to grow, attracting top talent. There have also been mid to senior hiring in the asset management industry. The retail sector, which is a large part of the commercial sector in Hong Kong, has shown signs of life and companies within the e-commerce and technology space have been hiring in Singapore.

Across the region learning and talent management professionals have continued to be in demand and there has been a marked pick up in the recruitment of generalists and business partners. After a dearth of talent acquisition roles in 2016, we have started to see a few more hires in this space. The number of rewards roles have remained low however.

It is expected that the job market in Asia will continue to improve as we head into the second half of 2017, particularly when we reach the second peak of the year which runs from early September to early December.

Richard Letcher - Profile Search & Selection 

Australia

As we approach the end of the Australian financial year on 30th June, the HR market remains in pretty good shape. We have observed a significant shift in the last year towards the contract workforce, with growth of 24% in contract job adverts, which compares with 10% in the permanent market. On a state by state basis, advertised roles have increased in all states over the last 12 months, with 37% growth in Queensland, and 26% in Western Australia of particular note. Both of these resource rich states have come off a low base for comparison, but the market in Queensland has certainly gained momentum, whereas in WA, the sentiment is still cautious. The larger economies in NSW and Victoria have both been robust of late, with 10% growth in advertised roles in the last quarter in each state.

With the mining sector still being subdued due to lower commodity prices, the bigger growth industries in the last year have been healthcare/aged care, professional services and education. In particular, the tertiary education sector has seen significant activity with growth of advertised roles increasing 25% in the last quarter. As with the healthcare/aged care markets, the education sector activity is driven by organisational change to improve their HR capability.

Within the individual HR occupations, both generalists and recruiters have remained in demand all year, with particular demand for HR Advisor level candidates, and mid-level internal recruitment candidates. The senior market has been reasonably active in NSW and Victoria, and inconsistent in the other states. This is more a reflection of the fact that Sydney & Melbourne remains home for most large company head offices.

As we come to the end of the financial year, we are confident that the market will remain reasonably stable. The short term prospect for commodity prices is flat which will have some impact on growth in the resource rich states, while confidence in the larger states will be driven by broader macro-economic events.

John Baker - The Next Step