UK HR Market 2010

Soon after producing our last in-depth salary survey in September 2008, the full force of the economic storm hit the UK and global recruitment markets. The fall out during 2009 – in employment terms – was significant.

Statistics showed that the UK unemployment rate for the three months to June 2009 was up 2.4 per cent over the year. The number of redundancies in the same period was 277,000, up 150,000 over the year. Although there were 427,000 job vacancies in the three months to July 2009, it still represented the lowest figure since comparable records began in 2001.

2009 was a really challenging year in HR recruitment – both within our business and for our clients and the HR community.

Our clients have faced the challenge of managing their people in a fragile economic environment. This inevitably has entailed reviewing employee numbers and, in a significant number of cases, reducing headcount. This then leads to the further challenge of maintaining motivation during a formal consultation period and subsequently managing, motivating and retaining the remaining employees.

For those HR specialists who found themselves out of work, this has been the most difficult of markets. We have not experienced similar levels of unemployed professionals since early 2001 and have devoted a considerable amount of our time to supporting and advising individuals who are struggling both to find work, as well as with the affect that this has on their own self-esteem. This remains a priority for us.

Since Q4 2009, we have seen a marked increase in activity across all sectors, particularly in financial and professional services. This activity started at HR Officer level and has gradually moved up into HR Manager and Business Partner level. We anticipate that the £100,000 plus market will pick up over the first 6 months of 2010, although that remains a market with a significant oversupply of available candidates.

Mark P Brewer
Partner - London office
E: markbrewer@frazerjones.com

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