HALF OF Australia’s employers have increased permanent staff levels over the past year, with the highest growth in the engineering (64 per) and human resources (54 per cent) sectors
HALF OF Australia’s employers have increased permanent staff levels over the past year, with the highest growth in the engineering (64 per cent) and human resources (54 per cent) sectors.
“Given the ongoing boom for engineers and the focus on recruitment and retention in many organisations, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the employment of engineering and HR skills has risen so significantly,” said Jacky Carter, director of Hays, which conducted the research.
“In both the civil and structural engineering disciplines, candidates with 15 to 20 years’ experience are in very high demand at present. The building services industry is busy across the board while mechanical designers and both junior and senior mechanical, electrical design engineers and people with specialist rail knowledge are also in demand.”
In the HR market, in-house recruitment specialists are in particular demand as employers focus on sourcing candidates with the correct cultural fit.
Also in demand are OHS consultants, to maintain a safe environment and meet legislative requirements, and learning and development candidates, as companies focus on skills development and organisational capability development across the board, according to Carter.
Of over 1,700 responses to the survey, 50 per cent of employers reported an overall increase in hiring, 11 per cent reported a decrease and 39 per cent said their permanent staff levels remained the same.
The survey also found that temporary workers are a highly utilised resource, with 52 per cent of employers using temporary or contract staff for specialist projects or workloads – a large component of which is the covering of workloads until a permanent staff member can be sourced.
A further 18 per cent of employers use temporary workers or contractors on a regular ongoing basis, “which demonstrates the reason for hiring temporary workers has changed over time, from short-term cover to an integral part of the workforce”, said Carter.
Looking forward, employment expectations are very positive, with 46 per cent of employers expected to increase their permanent staff levels over the next 12 months.
“Again the most confidence is coming from the engineering industry, where 71 per cent of employers expect to increase their staff levels in this discipline. This is followed by IT where 69 per cent expect to increase levels of staff.”
