Outlook 2012
The market for HR talent in Australia remains quite robust in most parts of the country. Whilst the mining and resources boom centres on Western Australia and, to a degree, Queensland, very strong HR practitioners are still in demand in the major centres of Sydney and Melbourne and to a lesser extent in the other capitals.
Senior specialists in compensation and benefits, global mobility, IR & ER, organisation development, talent management, change management and recruitment remain in demand by our ASX top 20 and major foreign clients. We are still seeing movement in the professional services sector and expect more changes throughout the first quarter of 2012. HR generalists with good pedigree as well as more experienced HR business partners maintain their attractiveness to well resourced employers.
The Retail sector has been struggling for the past 12 months but elements remain surprisingly strong whilst manufacturing is unlikely to improve greatly any time soon. The Financial Services sector is expected to take a further hit this year but Australia remains well placed to weather the storm.
We expect our clients to continue to recruit this calendar year but with some sectors being slower to replace talent as quickly as they have done in the past 12 months. The market for interim and contract talent is predicted to increase across the key sectors in the first half of the year.