Companies are Hiring

Date: September 24, 2010

I am here to report that companies are hiring again as we have seen a dramatic increase in demand in our search business. From a macro perspective, we are seeing companies of all sizes growing and investing again, preparing to go public, doing acquisitions, implementing and upgrading systems and lifting hiring freezes. More specifically, we have experienced the greatest demand in the healthcare, technology, and financial services industries. Here is a breakdown of what we are seeing in our core disciplines.

Finance and Accounting

Thanks to the dramatic cutbacks of 2009, we have experienced significant demand for accounting and finance hiring throughout this year. The first to bounce back were the mid-size, emerging, and private-equity backed companies who were adding accounting staff and upgrading senior management. In the second half of the year, we have seen the large companies beefing up in the mid-levels of management. These companies generally have reported that they cut too deep last year and they are adding back positions to prepare for the improvement in their businesses and increases in volume.

Specifically, our clients have reported difficulty in finding great candidates at the Senior, Manager and Director levels in corporate accounting and reporting, internal audit, financial analysis, and tax. As is typically the case, certain skill sets, salary levels and experience levels are harder to find than others. For example, hiring a 6-10 year, Big 4 and private CPA with strong technical accounting skills and work ethic is as difficult as ever. We are seeing candidates at the mid-levels of accounting management ($65-125K) getting multiple offers, counter-offers, and turning down jobs. If you ask these individuals about the job market, they will tell you times are great as they are getting recruiting calls daily.

Information Technology

We are experiencing a similar dynamic in our Information Technology division with demand increasing in mid-size and large companies alike. In both environments, the need for Developers, Business Analysts (BA’s) and Project Managers (PM’s) with certain technologies is as strong as ever. One of the hottest areas currently is the Business Intelligence and Data Warehouse arena. More specifically, our clients are having the most difficulty finding talent with strengths in Cognos, SAP BI, Business Objects, and SQL Server.

Another significant trend in our business is the re-emergence of major ERP implementations and upgrades, with Oracle, SAP and Great Plains Dynamics leading the way. It is becoming difficult again for companies to hire and retain PM’s, BA’s, and Developers with specialization in these technologies as it is becoming very lucrative to become a consultant again. Lastly, we have seen a dramatic pickup in clients requesting confidential replacements to upgrade their top IT professional, whether that be a CIO, CTO, or VP of Technology. In most of these cases, the companies felt that they had outgrown their existing person or were about to embark on a major initiative and felt the person did not have the capabilities necessary to take the company to the next level.

Wealth Management

Given the consolidation and upheaval in the banking sector, one of the bright spots is the wealth management sector. Financial Services firms targeting high net worth individuals have a created strong demand for business development (sales) professionals in every major city across the country. These business development professionals are receiving multiple offers from private banks, multi-family offices, RIA’s, money management firms and traditional brokerage firms. We are also seeing increasing demand for client service expertise, especially with an investment focus.

On the Foundation, Endowment, and Family Office side, these clients are looking to upgrade their in-house investment expertise. There are more searches for Chief Investment Officers than I have seen in years. We are also seeing firms upgrading in-house research analysts, specifically those in the alternative space.

Human Resources

This practice was the most severely impacted in 2009, with very few companies hiring HR professionals and most cutting this function deeply. We have seen an increase in demand primarily from the mid-size and emerging companies, some of which are hiring their first ever Director or VP of HR. Many of these companies have been operating with an HR Generalist or were operating without a true HR professional, so these are truly incremental new hires.

Where we have seen little recovery in demand is with the larger companies. Other than a few exceptions, the larger companies are operating with very lean HR functions and seem to be augmenting their staff with interim resources versus adding full-time staff. As always, they are still doing confidential replacements but not adding new headcount.