The UK jobs market is off to a slow start in 2010, according to jobs search engine AllTheTopBananas.com. New job data analysed for the site’s leading job advertisers for December showed a 22% decline in job availability when compared with November 2009. The results for January provide a similarly sluggish outlook, with job availability increasing only slightly by 19% since December.

The end of January saw the UK officially emerge from recession, although the growth that the economy achieved was far below expectations, suggesting that there may be a long way to go before the economy and the jobs market significantly recovers. An article on the BBC news website yesterday [February 15th] suggests that the recruitment industry may well be in for a tough time ahead, as public sector job cuts are expected in the coming months.

AllTheTopBananas.com have been analysing job data and salary indexes since 2008 and have monitored the changes in job count data throughout the recession. Although the new decade has not thus far provided a major influx in job availability, industry experts are still confident that 2010 will see a significant improvement within the jobs market.

Dave Martin, MD for AllTheTopBananas.com said: “The job statistics for the fourth quarter of 2009 heralded very positive results for the jobs market; with October in particular being a very strong month in terms of available jobs. While the Christmas period experienced a welcome boost to the number of jobs available, we have seen January struggle to keep up the pace, taking off to a relatively slow start. Overall the job count for January is 30% behind that of a year previously; however the UK weather conditions have affected all business operations during the early part of the year which affects any year on year comparison. It suggests a positive but slow return to form, which we will continue to monitor on a monthly basis.”

AllTheTopBananas will continue to provide monthly figures on job availability throughout the year. Along with their research, the jobs search engine will be launching the first public beta testing of their brand new site changes at TruLondon’s recruitment unconference in London on the 18th of February. The site changes being unveiled will focus on refining their search technology; including a similar jobs matching service, which uses AllTheTopBananas’ job title conversion technology to enhance relevancy of the jobs displayed. Other site changes include using icons to display relevant job data to the jobseeker, by using a system which picks out key phrases from the job description.

January 2010 has seen the creation of a new holding company to consolidate the group investments within McGinley Support Services Limited, JSB McGinley Systems Limited and McGinley Infrastructure Services Limited.  These highly established and successful recruitment support services businesses have reorganised and announced the launch of their new holding company, titled ‘McGinley Group Limited’.

The primary purpose of the reorganisation and creation of the new holding company has been to develop a more efficient corporate structure where all existing brands and companies will become acting subsidiaries and to create a vehicle through which future investments in the recruitment industry can be undertaken.

This development has been actioned in order to consolidate our group activities and to ensure the group is in line with the five year group business plan. Seamus McGinley has been appointed as Chairman and Dermot McGinley as Group Managing Director.

The responsibilities in the main operating group companies remain exactly the same with Eugene Meehan as Managing Director of McGinley Support Services Limited and McGinley Infrastructure Services Limited and Chris Mariner as Managing Director of JSB McGinley Systems Limited.

Following the launch of the new investment company, McGinley Group Limited through the operating subsidiary ‘Resourcing Services (UK) Limited, has recently backed the purchase of SSC and IHS to strengthen our presence in the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical markets.

“Over the last few years the recession brought many serious challenges to our business, however, we have been successful in managing our way through these difficult times.  The New Year will bring its own challenges; we envisage the formation of the new group will assist us in consolidating our groups existing business and achieving the growth associated with both our organic and acquisition plans”. 

Seamus McGinley, Chairman (McGinley Group Limited).

London, UK:  Tuesday 12^th January 2010: Whilst Britain’s most senior government minister may feel that his job prospects in 2010 are a little shaky, one in three senior executives believe government holds the best job security this year. In a study of over 3000 of Britain’s bosses by jobs site, TheLadders.co.uk, (www.theladders.co.uk), 32.5% of respondents said they felt that government held the best job security this year, followed by healthcare (30.2%) and education (20.6%).

Whilst retailers may have seen a boom Christmas, according to UK management this doesn’t translate into retail job prospects for 2010 with just 4.5% of bosses polled saying jobs were secure in the retail sector. If the UK’s big earners (£50K plus executives) are to be believed, the lowest performing sector for job security this year will be automotive. Just 1.5% of those polled thought jobs would be safe in Britain’s ailing car industry.

However 43% of bosses also reveal that their own organisations do plan to recruit in the next six months, up 28% from six months ago – a clear sign of increasing optimism in the economic climate.

And finally whilst last year’s election of President Obama inspired many US businesses, 73% of bosses here see the forthcoming UK General Election predicted for May as offering little hope to British business. Twenty percent say that the election may cause a temporary blip, whilst 30% believe that the UK economy is “in too big a hole” to spring back that quickly.

“It’s encouraging to see some signs of optimism in the job market,” says Derek Pilcher, Managing Director of TheLadders.co.uk. “The fact that twice as many senior management surveyed this year say they plan to hire compared to six months ago, is a clear signal of changing attitudes.  It’s also interesting to see that whilst the public sector has been earmarked for many major cutbacks, those in the private sector still believe government holds some of the most secure job prospects in 2010.”

The percentage of British bosses who believe the best job security rests in the following sectors in 2010:

Government                                               32.5%

Healthcare                                      30.2%

Education                                        20.6%

Pharmaceutical                             20%

Technology                                      18.9%

Food and Beverage                                 18.8%

Medicine                                          18.7%

Utilities                                                           16.3%

Telecommunications                    13.7%

Chemicals and Petroleum                      13.1%

Internet                                            9.7%

Entertainment                                7.4%

Science / R&D                                 5.7%

Finance / Insurance                                  5.5%

Transportation and Logistics      5.1%

Media                                                            4.6%

Manufacturing                               4.5%

Retail                                                 4.5%

Advertising, marketing, PR                     4.5%

Consumer / packaged goods   3.7%

Travel & Tourism                             2.7%

Industrial products                                    2.3%

Automotive                                                1.5%

A Leading recruitment site for the oil and gas industry has today announced a new feature that is sure to benefit candidates and recruiters alike. In a move that is a first for any industry specific job site, www.oilandgaspeople.com will allow each of its registered candidates to make their profiles live on the web. Candidate’s profiles will in effect become an online virtual CV, which can be linked to from other sites and social networks and also used when applying for jobs elsewhere online. All profiles will be fully optimised to appear in search engine results and candidates can choose to make all or part of their profile visible.

Managing Director of Oil and Gas People, Kevin Forbes said, ‘The idea behind Oil and Gas People from the start has been to offer a better service to recruiters and candidates in the oil and gas industry. The web is evolving at a great pace and traditional job sites are now being left behind. We follow a new model that is already offering candidates and recruiters a better service. This announcement will set us even further ahead of the competition and hopefully give candidates another tool they can use in their quest for employment. Our oil and gas social networking site, www.oilandgascommunity.com already gives anyone in the industry a place to network, share information and keep in touch with colleagues and friends. We hope the two sites will now compliment each other more.’

oilandgaspeople.com was launched to candidates in September 2009 at Offshore Europe and is due to go live to recruiters in January 2010. The site does away with traditional job posts and the normal application process. Instead candidates build detailed profiles which recruiters positions are then automatically matched to. No longer do candidates have to constantly search for their next position, jobs will literally find them. Recruiters instead of getting an inbox full of hundreds of CV’s get instant matches to suitable and available candidates. With a more efficient service and cost savings of up to 75% over other job sites recruiters have a right to be excited.

More information on Oil and Gas People for candidates can be found here http://www.oilandgaspeople.com/candidates/ and recruiters can click here http://www.oilandgaspeople.com/recruiters/ where a sample profile is also available.

With Online Shopping expected to grow by up to 20% this Christmas, specialist IT Recruitment Agency CV Screen anticipates continuingly high demand for SEO skills in 2010.

With CV Screen’s IT Jobs index showing that demand for SEO / Online Marketing skills increased by 40% over the last year. At the same time there is upward pressure on salaries with the average salary for an SEO specialist in the UK now just over £30,000.

Managing Director of CV Screen Matthew Iveson added “With online retailers such as Amazon, ASOS and Play.com phenomenal growth, it is clear that more and more companies will be looking to bolster their online presence as we move in to 2010.”

Iveson then stated, “We have seen the number of SEO Jobs increase dramatically over the last 6/12 months with employers finally beginning to see the benefits of employing experts in house rather than relying on SEO agencies.”

When questioned about what specific SEO skills are in demand Iveson added “Clients are being very demanding in this area and are looking for candidates with experience of implementing SEO strategies, running Pay per Click (PPC) campaigns and also a full understanding of Social Media. This means that candidates must understand the benefits of running a company blog and also how sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn can be used for business advantage.”

In conclusion, Iveson added “Our belief is that the most in demand candidates in 2010 will be those who offer a mix of SEO, Online Marketing and web development skills who have the ability to formulate and implement online strategies in this rapidly expanding area.”

Whilst UK recruiters cannot wait to see the back of 2009 the outlook for next year looks altogether more favourable, according to industry thought-leaders.

A recent discussion in the UK Recruitment Professionals LinkedIn Group asked for recruiter’s thoughts on their feelings on what was in store in the New Year.  The post received an almost unanimous vote of confidence.

The past 18 months has seen almost unrivalled challenges for the staffing industry, battling not only a downturned economy but also the emergence of social media, heralded during its inception as the complete antipathy to the traditional recruitment model – the anti-Christ to decades of relatively unchallenged prosperity.

“When the sea is rough, sail better”, pontificated Stephen Hart, owner of sales and recruitment training company, Edenchanges.  “I’ve worked with quite a few recruitment companies this year and continually I see that the solid basics of hard, professional and focused work and effort will ensure companies do well.”  And these are the key issues.

Undoubtedly, those recruitment agencies who chose the short-term aggressive approach above the long-tailed account management mantra will find that by mistreating their jobseekers and failing to properly consult with their clients, has probably nailed the lid on their coffin.  For the scurrilous vagabonds who have skulked our industry caverns for too long now, may be about to given short thrift.

Arrogance & complacency

“If there has been any silver lining to the last 18 months,” opined Stuart MacGregor, business manager at MacGregor Wilson Resourcing, “I think it might be fair to say that it’s wiped out a fair amount of arrogance, complacency and shoddy work in the recruitment sector and re-focussed many of us.”

Very few industry sectors have managed to avoid the recession, with even less managing to flourish.  Perhaps the earliest sign of the gathering storm was the dramatic drop in the number of marketing jobs advertised.  Perceived by many bean-counters as an unquantifiable expense, the creative folk have struggled more than most this year.  But the signs in this sector are extremely positive, with the number of visible advertised vacancies on the rise.

More jobs for recruiters

Jeremy Snell, group sales trainer at Spring Group Plc, is upbeat about the future: “The looks healthier for 2010 certainly, with recent news revealing that permanent jobs are at a 28 month high for November 2009.  I think also that there will be a lot more movement [in our industry], with a strong war ensuing for talented recruiters. Many firms cut their headcount by up to 30% (some also crashed out all together) and all have made noises publicly that 2010 will see that change.

This means next year will see a lot of recruitment firms attacking the market with renewed energy.  With many recruiters looking to change jobs, 2010 could be the year that brings home the importance to many businesses of their human capital.” 

All aboard the staffing carousel

So, interesting times ahead: Jobseekers can return from a well-earned festive break to a veritable alpine snowfall of newly-budgeted vacancies; recruiters can look forward to once again working with a smile on their face and a regression to the merry-go-round that keeps it all interesting; and hiring managers will be enjoying the benefits of tip-top talent, brought to them by the remodelled and battle-hardened recruiter.

To end John Reynolds, managing director of tri-sector recruitment specialists, Storm Recruitment Services Limited, simply enthused: “Bring it on.  I predict a riot”.  And I’ll propose a toast to that!

Simon Lewis | Editor | Only Marketing Jobs

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TheLadders.co.uk (www.theladders.co.uk), the careers site catering exclusively to executive jobseekers, is starting 2010 with a national TV campaign aimed at building awareness of the career service amongst £50K plus executives across the UK.

The national campaign follows a similar push in 2009 which delivered a major increase in jobseeker numbers for the site. The 2010 campaign will focus on how a specialist executive site like TheLadders.co.uk, delivers the most targeted and relevant biggest and best opportunity for them.

The campaign will run across major terrestrial including ITV and Channel Four and digital channels including Sky Sports and Sky News during January and February, with the aim of reaching the many jobseekers who will be looking for a new role at the start of the year.  The TV campaign will be supported with an online programme targeting ABC1 30-55 year old senior executives.

“We saw a major uplift in registrations and awareness when we tested TV for the first time in 2009. We are investing a significant spend on TV in 2010 as the job market stabilizes and senior executives begin to look for a new career. However competition is still fierce and jobseekers at this level want to know that they are seeing the most relevant jobs for them. That’s the focus for our TV campaign.” says Derek Pilcher, TheLadders.co.uk Managing Director. 

TheLadders.co.uk, which specialises in jobs and career services for senior executives earning an annual salary of £50K or more, was the first niche careers site to use a mainstream TV campaign to boost awareness. The site currently has over 330,000 members from Britain’s senior business ranks.

Owned by TheLadders.com, TheLadders.co.uk uses channels dedicated to verticals within the £50,000+ job market, including Technology, Finance, Human Resources, Law Consulting, GM and Operations offering a range of career services including CV critiquing and career advice, trend data and market reports. To ensure that only qualified executives enter the job applicant pool, an in-house team of experts will screen every online CV prior to granting member status.

LONDON, December 10, 2009 – MrTed today announced that the latest iteration of its flagship product – MrTedTalentLink v9 – will reach general availability on December 31, enabling users to kick-off the New Year in style with the world’s most advanced talent acquisition software platform.

For 10 years MrTed has been at the forefront of innovation in the cloud computing business, and MrTedTalentLink 9 continues the tradition. For the first time users can completely customize the MrTedTalentLink platform according to their unique needs and preferences – a significant achievement that has broad implications in terms of product usability and return on investment – and the architecture and user interface have been redesigned per the latest cloud computing protocols. The new platform reflects the desires of the user community with whom MrTed worked closely for three years to ensure the most flexible, enjoyable talent acquisition experience possible.

Introducing MrTedTalentLink 9
―This is an all-new breed of talent acquisition software that we believe users are absolutely going to love,‖ said Jerome Ternynck, CEO at MrTed. ―We have gone to great lengths to make Cloud 9 a special product that fundamentally changes the way recruiters interact with their talent acquisition platform. The response from early adopters has been tremendously positive. I’m happy to say that MrTed has once again set the standard for talent acquisition software.”

Leading research and advisory consulting firm Bersin & Associates, in their September 2009 assessment1 of the state of the talent acquisition market said MrTedTalentLink Cloud 9 ―brings the next generation Talent Acquisition Solution towards the market, (as it) will fully embrace the cloud computing technology and enhance its partnerships.”

Key Enhancements and Benefits
Advanced cloud computing technology – MrTedTalentLink 9’s new architecture is the result of over three years of research by MrTed. It features a configurable candidate database that can easily integrate data from any source, an independent business logic layer exposed through web services,
1 ―Talent Acquisition Systems 2010: Facts, Practical Analysis, Trends, and Provider Profiles‖, Madeline Laurano, Principal Analyst, September 2009
and an on-demand user interface so recruiters can customize their own workspaces. This open architecture makes it fast and easy to connect with other talent management and HR applications, so users get the full benefit of cloud computing on their desktop.

A world of apps – MrTedTalentLink 9 presents business processes as portable application modules that users can turn on, turn off, or customize to create a truly personalized experience. Cloud 9 includes apps for all major business processes, including internal and external recruitment, outplacement, contingent workforce management, vendor management, candidate processing, time sheeting, offer management, on-boarding and more. Apps are portable and can be used with other systems and interfaces, while external applications developed by other vendors can be integrated inside the Cloud 9 workspace. By leveraging the power of MrTed apps, users can enjoy the benefits of a personalized platform that meets their individual needs and preferences.

Dynamic user interface – MrTedTalentLink 9 users are free to configure and rearrange apps in order to create a personalized workspace and navigation experience. The dynamic interactivity of the user interface allows apps to be resized, dragged, dropped and even layered. Even though the interface processes large amounts of data, Cloud 9’s asynchronous data retrieval keeps the presentation layer running quickly and smoothly—a result that can only be described as enjoyable for the user. Users spend most of their time in a dynamic and personalized workspace, rather than jumping from screen to screen or module to module. In this way MrTedTalentLink more closely resembles a favorite website than like an enterprise software program.

―We’ve all seen or experienced enterprise software that claims to be flexible and user friendly but is not,‖ said Robert Chwastek, MrTed’s VP Product Development. ―What stands out about MrTedTalentLink 9 is the extent to which the product can be shaped to meet each user’s individual requirements. This truly is the most open enterprise software product with which I’ve seen, and that openness is key to increasing user adoption, user productivity and user enjoyment. ‖
For more information about TalentLink 9 visit www.mrted.com

For the 2.46 million workers unemployed, this Christmas presents the perfect reason to loosen the tie and hang up the interview suit for a few weeks fuelled by the false belief that “no one hires during December,” particularly when half of British companies will be nursing their heads after Christmas parties.

But according to TheLadders.co.uk, the careers site for Britain’s senior executives, pounding the pavement now may make the difference between starting 2010 settling into a new position and competing for one with the hordes of job-seekers who slacked their search for the festivities. 

“It’s a myth that no jobs get filled during the last six weeks of the year”, said Derek Pilcher, Managing Director of TheLadders.co.uk, which lists many of the UK’s £50K plus positions.

“January is the busiest job hunting time of the year, but the people who are hired in January are usually those who applied and interviewed in prior months. You don’t hire somebody on Jan. 5 that you met on Jan. 3, you hire somebody you met in November or December,” Pilcher continues.

To help job-seekers pounding the pavements this festive season, TheLadders.co.uk has developed a series of tips designed to secure that new position for the New Year.

Create Your 2010 CV: Look back over 2009 and what has happened in your career. What have you learned from your experience and what new skills have you acquired. Update your CV so you can translate even the most recent experiences into opportunities for 2010. 

The Pre-Christmas Push: Companies with open jobs will often push to fill them before year end, especially if there is any concern about losing positions in next year’s budget, so review all jobs you have seen advertised and / or applied for over the last four weeks. Follow them up and close the opportunities.

Leave no stone unturned:  There are jobs out there and a deadline to fill them. Ensure that you use every available avenue – personal contacts, the web, agencies to leave no stone unturned.

Make the Most of Party Season: Christmas is all about parties and what better place to network and spread the word about your skills. This may present new opportunities for 2010 or even secure an interview for the perfect position. Who knows the first interview you get in the New Year could be from the Christmas party.

Stay focused. It will be hard to keep your head when all about are losing theirs, but staying focused, even between Christmas and New Year will mean that yours may be the call that reaches the boss whilst the PA is away. Don’t lose sight of the opportunity that less competition presents.

And Be Creative. If you have interviews lined up before Christmas, be creative. Find out when the company is having its Christmas party and if it’s the day before your interview take some hangover treats, coffee, muffins to make sure your interviewer remembers that you did your homework.