Who's in demand in HR?
Though HR's 'personnel' roots are showing their worth in the current climate, the job market has seen almost a 65% drop in HR vacancies compared to this time last year. And this is further confirmed by the 2009 Monster Employment Index, which shows that the availability of HR jobs continues to decline.
Senior vacancies are bearing the biggest brunt presently, with most organisations choosing instead to make the best use of their mid-management team including business partners. But while many HR functions continue to focus on handling immediate work pressures, this is creating job opportunities for developing HR professionals from administrators to analysts to support their efforts.
Senior vacancies are bearing the biggest brunt presently
The private sector which once buoyed the need for reward, compensation and benefits experts has since taken a back seat, led by the banking and financial services sector. As these roles have plateaued, caution has also seeped into the graduate recruitment market leading to fewer vacancies opening up. With the depressed job market showing no great signs of recovery, it is little surprise that recruitment roles remain rare and that the competition for these has not eased since last reported in October.
In contrast, the flexibility that HR generalists can offer to support mounting and varied workloads is keeping them in steady demand. As organisations try to manage best with the talent they already have in-house, they are calling on talent management and learning and development specialists as predicted in February to support these objectives. Senior learning and development figures, as well as the specialist analysts that can help them understand the challenge at hand, are within context the most sought-after HR professionals in the market. A hot contender to this crown comes from organisational development specialists, though fewer change project vacancies are reaching the open job market, not for want of availability.
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