Skills shortage/business growth drives temporary recruitment

Skills shortage and business growth drives rise in temporary recruitment

17 September 2012

Robert Half has noticed an emerging trend revealing that Kiwi finance and accounting businesses are more inclined to employ contractors and temporary staff than they were 12 months ago.

A key driver for the change is lean finance teams that experienced cuts during the recession are now looking for extra resources. While there are candidates available, there is a serious skills shortage in New Zealand.

Robert Half temporary and project recruitment manager, Ronil Singh, explains the knock-on effect of cut-backs during the recession is that employees are becoming increasingly stretched as teams struggle to meet rising workload demands and manage business growth.

In an effort to address this, he says companies are increasingly employing temporary staff to buy time so they can properly assess their business needs before committing to a permanent hire.

Additionally, it can take four to eight weeks to fill a staff-level position, and up to six months for a senior position, so hiring managers are increasingly relying on temporary employees to plug the gaps while they find the right candidates.

Singh says while businesses aren’t hiring aggressively, there is most definitely a labour gap and lack of good quality permanent candidates with the right skills is driving the temporary market.

“The candidates are there in quantity, but the quality in terms of specific skills and expertise is missing. Skilled workers who may have been available during redundancy phases in the past two to three years have been absorbed back into organisations or have decided to take up job opportunities in Australia and further abroad. That has left New Zealand businesses with a lack of talent with the skill sets they require for growth,” he adds.

Singh predicts the temporary market will continue to gain momentum over the coming 12 months as increased business confidence drives further growth. “The permanent recruitment market is picking up slowly and the temporary market will follow that trend,” he says.

Robert Half advises businesses that adopting a mix of temporary and permanent employees can be beneficial not only from the flexibility this staffing approach allows, but also the opportunity to see the temporary staff in action before they make a permanent hiring decision.

To get the most from this approach, companies should make temporary staff feel valued and provide the support necessary for them to succeed. This will keep productivity high and increase your chances of converting them to a permanent role if you decide they are the right fit for the long-term.

About Robert Half International
Robert Half International (RHI) pioneered specialised staffing services and today is the world’s leader in the field. Founded in 1948, the company is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: RHI). In 2012, Robert Half again was named to FORTUNE® magazine’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” list, ranking #1 in our industry (March 19, 2012).

Robert Half New Zealand operates the divisions Robert Half Finance & Accounting, for temporary and permanent finance professionals; Robert Half Management Resources, for project and interim finance, accounting and business systems professionals and Robert Half Technology, for high calibre technology professionals.

There are more than 350 Robert Half locations worldwide. Visit us today: www.roberthalf.co.nz.

ENDS

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