Engineering, Manufacturing & Technical Recruitment - Market Commentary October 2009

Engineering, Manufacturing & Technical Recruitment
- Market Commentary October 2009

Since our June commentary the employment market in general has shown moderate signs of recovery, with recruitment activity sporadic as businesses cautiously recommence their hiring plans. The "wait and see" approach is beginning to lift. “Cautiously positive”, seems to best describe employer sentiment at present.  There have been signs of a recovery in hiring intentions in the engineering, manufacturing and technical sectors, albeit slow. We are waiting for consumer confidence to rebound and for government infrastructure spending to take hold. 

Unlike previous recessions, we have not seen massive redundancies of staff.  Rather, we believe that our clients have opted to reduce employees work hours as they have realized how difficult it is to attract and retain talent.  Companies will hopefully be rewarded for their farsightedness by having an already trained, committed and loyal workforce when the economy fully rebounds.

Consequently, there has not been a huge demand for contract labour to fill the usual gaps.  As the economy continues to improve and business confidence rises the return to substantial contract numbers will still lag as full time employees return to normal hours. 

Has the tide turned or are there still some bad days at the office ahead?  Most pundits seem to believe that it will be another 5 or 6 months before a marked upturn occurs, and this is probably the most likely prediction. 

Following are our observations of the key recruitment markets we have been operating in since 1979.

Construction Engineering & Management

Construction activity over the last 3 months has been varied depending on the sector in question. The new building sector has seen one of its largest contractions in memory with only a few commercial developments propping up the activities of a small number of firms.

On a brighter note, civil engineering activity has been more consistent with several ongoing rail, road and water related projects. With commitment from State and Federal governments, there are more of these infrastructure projects with planned commencement dates later this year and into 2010. However despite the positives we have noticed a marked slow-down in recruitment of new professionals within the civil engineering sector. It is evident from speaking with our clients that many civil engineering contractors are deferring major recruitment decisions for the time being, whilst redeploying resources internally and avoiding over committing by waiting for newly awarded contracts to be formally signed off.

We are still inviting applications from Project Engineers, Supervisors and Project Managers with engineering qualifications or training and experience, who are keen to learn about new opportunities. We are also handling some recruitment assignments in Saudi Arabia and candidates with water treatment and sewage plant treatment design and project management are in demand.

Consulting Engineering and Building Services

The September quarter was up and down for the engineering consultancies. In the cases where activity has picked up it has allowed companies to return their staff to full time hours rather than engaging new hires or building new project teams. Other consultancies have found that their larger projects are winding down and there are few large projects on the horizon.

As mentioned last issue there is still demand for Green credentials such as Green star and NABERS qualifications as clients are focusing much of their attention to refurbishment and upgrading of inefficient building systems to meet new environmental standards

Whilst the design phase on many major projects has wound down, the construction phases are now in full swing. There are currently opportunities for experienced HVAC estimators and as always experienced AutoCAD Project drafters with experience in producing shop drawings for the HVAC industry

Automotive Engineering

Greater consumer confidence is reflected in the sales of new motor vehicles. There appears to be a shift in consumer preference towards smaller, lower fuel consumption vehicles. Industry optimism is growing. That said we have not seen a significant upturn in hiring as yet. Companies appear to be redistributing workloads internally. The decline in permanent recruitment has stopped, however permanent placements in the automotive industry are dramatically lower. You only have to look at job boards like Seek to realise how severe this downturn has been (at time of publication of this Market Commentary there were only twelve permanent engineering automotive positions listed in Melbourne).

With an increasingly competitive global automotive market, the next months will no doubt continue to be challenging. Finding suitably skilled candidates will always be a concern for employers; there are pockets of the labour market where skilled candidates continue to be in short supply. Candidates with engineering automotive skill sets are sought after across a variety of industry sectors. We continue to encourage candidates wishing to move out of the automotive industry into sectors like manufacturing or defence, for instance, to highlight their automotive skills, including their project management and analytical problem solving abilities. Once again we are cautioning all automotive candidates to remember that it is important not to define themselves by the industry sector they have come from, but by the skills and competencies they will bring to their next position.

Drafting

The demand for drafters still remains low and is one of the worst affected areas of the downturn.  Unfortunately the optimism of the new financial year’s budgets having a knock-on effect for contract drafters has not occurred.

Areas where demands still remain strong are building services, civil, structural and HVAC.  Drafters with experience in detailed shop drawings for mechanical services / HVAC are highly sought.  The demand in these sectors has been maintained but so has the requirement for demonstrated experience and the transition from other markets like automotive and manufacturing still remains challenging.

Contractors are still offering to be flexible in their hourly rate expectations in order to gain the work.

Electronics / Technology Engineering

We have entered the final quarter of the worst year since the Great Depression with conflicting signals.  In the Electronics/ Technology Engineering arena, July was hectic, August was gloomy and September showed some flickering signs of life.  Employers are now taking up the slack at present as there are a large body of workers on reduced hours. 

Employer expectations are, as seems to be the trend, very specific indeed and their caution before hiring is probably driven by economic uncertainty as well as by the need to ensure that whoever joins the business clearly demonstrates that he or she can add value.  The days of “let’s give him/her a go and see how they go” are dead.  The risk of a bad fit or poor performer is very costly.

Where there have been scary days in 2009, there are also exciting days too ahead in 2010, and the committed, achieving professional has much to look forward to.  One feels particularly for the ranks of unemployed graduates – graduate opportunities are so scarce.  What encouragement can we offer, except to stay focused and to not lose heart. 

Remember, do not forget that at interview, you will be expected to supply specific details of what you have done, even in University projects.

1. It’s excellent, I wish I had written it myself. Best of luck.

Manufacturing Professionals

While this sector of the job market has not shown any noticeable upswing over the last few months, it has become very obvious that quite a number of manufacturing companies are showing a very positive outlook for their future prospects.  We have recently received enquiries from clients looking for production team leaders (plastics and bio medical experience), production manager and quality manager (food) and an engineering manager (beverage production and bottling).

However, there will likely be no immediate upswing in vacancies over the next few months as most companies have retained staff on reduced hours and will take up the slack in hours before recruiting externally.

As there is every chance of this being a bumper Christmas for retailers, most manufacturers will return to find improved order books and therefore start hiring staff from February onwards, starting from the factory floor and progressing to support staff.

Regards

The Team at Australia Wide Personnel

Engineering, Manufacturing & Technical Recruitment

Since 1979

www.australiawide.com.au