An Open Mind And Flexibility Are Needed In Uncertain Economic Times

The continued global market turbulence and uncertainty is reflected in the latest update on employer attitudes to recruitment, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation's latest monthly update.

But, also reflecting the uncertainty is a more positive and optimistic hope that the creation of the recently announced enterprise zones around the country may give a significant boost to job prospects in some regions.

According to the latest REC stats employers reported that they were downgrading their plans to increase their permanent workforces in the medium and the long-term, but at the same time they expected to increase their demand for temporary staff.

The percentage of employers surveyed who said they expected to expand their permanent staff over the next three months had dropped from 74% to 66% month on month, while the picture was even bleaker when they were asked about their plans over the next 12 months with only 46% envisaging increasing their work forces compared to 66% the month previously.

However, 83% of employers expected to continue or increase their use of temporary workers over the next 12 months.

The REC has also found that approximately 20% of public sector workers felt cuts would have a serious or quite serious impact on them.

Put all these pieces of information together and the message for anyone who is seeking work is that they may have to be prepared to be flexible in more ways than one for the foreseeable future.

It is likely that those who have a secure position will be less willing to take any risks and will therefore try to stay put. Where employers are looking for a replacement for someone who has left for whatever reason, they are likely to be choosier about whom they recruit and this will make it trickier for anyone wanting to move up the career ladder.

For those job seekers just starting out, it may become more challenging to get the basic experience on which to build. So, for example, someone whose eventual aim may be to become an executive PA, finding a permanent administrative or secretarial post could become more difficult.

In these circumstances a flexible attitude may be helpful. Even those seeking a permanent position may have to consider widening their search and being willing to consider other parts of the country where there is an enterprise zone being set up.

Alternatively they could remain open to filling in for maternity leave, accepting a six-month contract or take on temp work through a recruitment agency. In ordinary times the advice has been that having too many short term positions on a CV raises eyebrows among employers, but times are clearly not ordinary.

A negative can be turned into a positive, especially when starting out. In the current climate being able to demonstrate that one has kept working albeit in a string of short-term appointments suggests that a person has been willing to do whatever they can, build on their experience until things improved and crucially to be flexible and adaptable.


Copyright (c) 2011 Alison Withers