Jersey’s recruitment sector has had one of its busiest starts to the year, with executive recruitment firms seeing a surge in new roles, especially across Finance.
The market echoes trends seen in Jersey’s latest Business Tendency Survey, which revealed an 11% positivity rating across all businesses with Finance showing the most positive indicators at 28%.
Business Tendency ratings for Q4 2018 show the future employment outlook for business in Jersey is neutral overall at 3%, with most demand coming through Finance, which is 12% positive compared to -1% for non-Finance. Employment expectations for 2019 were positive too, at 24% across sectors, with 55% of Finance firms expecting an increase in staffing levels.
Shelley Kendrick, Managing Director, Kendrick Rose, an executive recruitment specialist, said: “The latest Business Tendency Survey demonstrates growth in Jersey’s employment market is still primarily driven by Finance, and this is replicated in most roles we are placing candidates in. However, as an executive recruitment firm, we also see the wider picture as we speak to many Island firms in the early stages of their growth, and with off-island firms before some have even announced they are setting up in Jersey.
“Q4 of 2018 saw a real surge in activity at Kendrick Rose, a number of new enquiries from businesses looking to set up in Jersey and businesses in the island already planning budgets and new roles for 2019. We have seen an incredibly busy start to the year with new vacancies across the whole remit of roles, particularly with tech developments and business change plus key roles at Director level and above.”
The number of candidates searching for new roles in Jersey is at its highest level at the start of the year, with Kendrick Rose seeing more candidates looking at new jobs in the final month of 2018 and first month of 2019 compared to the middle of 2018.
Shelley said: “People who have been thinking about change for a while might jump straight into newjob applications at the start of the year, however, others will go back to work and try to find ways of making their role meet their goals, e.g. will there be scope for a promotion or a pay rise? People change jobs for many reasons and in Jersey, money is not the ultimate driver for changing job. It’s high on the list but it’s a combination of things that force the move – usually opportunities to progress, poor management, and lack of motivation, and these combined with salary, create theultimate push.”
The unemployment rate in Jersey has been dropping steadily with the latest Actively Seeking Work Report for Q4 2018 showing just 890 Islanders registered as unemployed, 60 people fewer than for the end of 2017.
