In my first Blog I promised to update our readers on a quarterly bases on how the job market is doing. The difference between now and last November is that the deaded "R" word (recession) comes up in every interview and I am expected to give some insight as to what it means to each candidate.
Here is what is going on in the Bay Area for Finance, Accoutning, HR and It opportuinties - There is no slow down....yet. We have more opportunties to talk about with our candidates now than in November of 2007. It appears that there is a strong demand for candidates for senior staff positions in all functional areas and there is a slight decrease in Director and Manager roles. In addition there is a continued demand for technical roles in Accounting and fewer jobs that focus on planning and analysis. Many industries we support - Financial Management, Hightechnology and Biotechnology are healthy and continue to grow.
A Careerbuilder.com survey discussed hiring trends for the first quarter of 2008. In it 29% of employers were looking to increase head count, only 7% were looking to decrease, 60% were anticipated no change with 5% unsure.
We did see a slow down in December. We feel the slow down in hiring was not due to economic factors but the fact that hiring managers and candidates were not available during the holidays.
During the last recession the Bay Area was behind in the curve in terms of when the recession impacted or job market. If you think we are headed into a recession and you are looking to make a change, now is the time to do it before your choices of opportunities become more limited. If you are bullish take your time, I will update you on the market in a few months.
Happy hunting!
Bryon McDougall
bryon@alchemysearch.com
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