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Throughout New Zealand’s economic history over the past decade, we at OCG have experienced spikes in demand for our contractors.  Yet 2009 has followed a different trend with significantly reduced number of opportunities in all areas of contracting, closely paralleled with the reduced number of permanent opportunities.

 

Why?
With the relative severity in the economic conditions this time around, it has been evident that many organisations have taken serious action to correct their cost structures or have taken a very cautious approach given the medium term predictions for a recovery.

 

What can we expect?
With the worst out of the way and the necessity for businesses to make this coming year better than last, recovery mode with some forward thinking will be the name of the game!  With staffing levels at a bare minimum for most, any reasonable increase in business activity levels will, we believe, see a very sudden requirement for extra resource to supplement a tired and in some cases, damaged workforce.

 

Obviously many businesses are going to be taking extreme caution for some time when it comes to growing headcounts - this creates a need to resource on a flexible basis to help transition back to normality.  As a natural reaction to today’s market, there has been an increase in the demand for contractors.

 

Projects moving ahead…
As we emerge from the recession, many technology-related projects which were previously postponed are now resurfacing and needing action.  Increased investment in talent is again becoming a priority but for many businesses, the headcount freezes remain.  This is forcing many permanent positions to be “repackaged” as contract roles, to help keep costs and commitments down.  The use of contractors in the short term can offer the best solution for these projects - an effective solution to deal with excess work without committing to new staff long term or helping to clear the backlog of work created by restructuring and redundancies.

 

The good news is that the candidate/contractor supply is the best it’s been for many years.  There is currently a talent pool of extremely qualified and eager professionals waiting for market movement.

 

A word of caution!
And this is meant to be a helpful word of caution…  There are two main camps of candidates - some are currently feeling damaged and fragile after losing colleagues and handling increased workloads.  Others have held off their career moves and parked themselves in their current jobs to wait out the tough times until the market is more buoyant.  Employers should look at how to retain key staff - the ones holding the company together - so they have their strongest employee base when the recession is truly over.

 

Staff turnover:
We can help you fill the gap with an excellent contractor, however we’d rather provide you with an expert to help improve your business and regain a footing, that’s much more rewarding!

 

 

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