Hiring intentions are at a 3 year high in the first quarter of 2015, with employers expecting to increase both their permanent and contract headcounts, according to this quarter’s Hudson Report: Employment Trends.
The quarterly report released by global recruiting firm Hudson sheds light on the current landscape of the Australian workforce and provides renewed optimism for those seeking new employment opportunities in 2015.
Contracting focus
- 14% of employers are expecting to increase their contracting/temporary worker headcount in Q1 2015, an increase of 3.2% on the previous quarter
- Information Communication Technology (ICT) is once again the sector with the greatest hiring optimism, with 23.7% of employers looking to hire ICT workers
- Hudson identifies ICT as the dominate force in the Australia contracting market
- There is strong demand for project workers as transformation projects enter the implementation stage
- Sales, Marketing and Communications is the second most likely sector to hire (18.4%), followed by Technical and Engineering (17.7%) and Public Sector roles (16.2%)
Permanent roles
- 7% of employers are looking to increase permanent staffing levels in the first three months of the year, up 5.6% on last quarter (the highest figure since Q2 2012)
- There is less demand for reporting and transactional positions, with a new focus on roles that will drive growth and create new opportunities
State breakdown
- Employers in QLD foresee the strongest hiring levels, with 20.4% looking to increase headcount, seen to be heavily influenced by the public sector and the State election
- VIC (19.7%), NSW (19.4%), SA (19.4%) and ACT (14.5%) also saw strong hiring intention, with each of these states experiencing quarterly increases
Hiring by profession
- Financial ervices is the sector most likely to hire in Q1 2015, with 36.9% of hiring managers planning to increase their headcount in Q1 2015, surging 16.8% for the quarter
- Professionals with experience in agile environments are particular sought after, as are Compliance and Risk Professionals specialising in regulatory change
- The Legal Sector has the second highest hiring intentions for the quarter, with strong demand for mid-level lawyers
- Hiring intentions are also on the rise for Human Resources, ICT, Public Sector, Office Support, Technical & Engineering and Accounting & Finance professions
