The slumbering jobs market is coming back to life after five years in hibernation. Denise Chevin finds out who’s in demand, where and why. Illustrations by Brett Ryder
It’s time to dust down your CV and dry clean your best outfit. After six years of pay freezes and career stagnation, the job market finally looks like it’s sprung back to life, with recruitment consultants reporting the most buoyant time since the heady days of the pre-2007 credit crunch.
There has been a substantial change in the market since January, they say, with demand for new staff picking up across the board and, encouragingly, in companies of all sizes. The balance of power in some circumstances is on the cusp of tipping from the employer back to the employee – and with it comes pay rises. Some roles are in such demand and people with certain skills in such short supply that skills shortages take hold sooner than anticipated.
During the past five years, more than 400,000 jobs have been lost in construction, leaving gaping holes in expertise that will quickly become exposed with even a moderate upturn. Ed Hoad, managing director at Catalyst Executive Search, sums up the general sentiment, saying: “The market for quantity surveyors and project managers in London is the busiest I’ve ever seen. It’s ridiculous at the moment.”
The impact of the freeze on graduate recruitment in the past five years is now also being felt, says Hoad. “Graduates with three to five years’ experience earning between £35,000 and £45,000 are at a premium because so much work is going on. I can see a looming skills crisis. But there’s demand at the higher levels too for those in the £80,000 to £120,000 bracket with a good number of big projects looking for project directors. The key thing people must be able to show is that they can deliver. It’s all about delivery.”
Andrew Szklarek, UK director at Project Resource, agrees. “Demand is high for mid-level people with five to six years’ experience,” he says. “It’s another example of the industry not learning its lessons. Between 2008 and 2010 firms didn’t hire anyone. So I know we are going to pay for that. Within 12 months, qualified QSs will be hard to find.”
Stephen Gee, managing partner of quantity surveyor John Rowan & Partners, says the firm has already noticed a change in the market. “We’ve been recruiting for the past 18 months at various levels, and it’s been quite straight forward to get good quality people and there were no signs of existing staff leaving. The last two to three months have changed quite significantly — there are definitely fewer CVs circulating and three of our senior staff are leaving.”
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