Senior channel staff market feels the heat

Spike in vacancies reflected in senior IT exec offers this summer

Channel executives thinking of a move should perhaps not wait until after their holidays, if the vacancies being listed at one recruiter are any guide.

Northampton-headquartered Channel Recruitment Solutions (CRS) has seen the number of roles for senior executive staff rise along with the temperature in recent weeks.

According to managing consultant Zoe Albans, the increase in vacancies, especially at this level, is unusual for this time of year.

"There has been a massive increase in senior sales-level opportunities, both in sales and in marketing," she told ChannelWeb. "We have about 10 to 12 senior-level positions available. For this time of year, this has been an increase on the past two years."

She added that some of the roles available are at large players - although she was not at liberty to divulge exactly which big channel firms are hiring at the moment.

Normally, the number of vacancies lags during July and August as executives go on holiday, only restarting their hiring processes in September and October, with another hiatus experienced around Christmas time, Albans confirmed.

Similarly, executives looking for a change or promotion tended to start scouring the market for opportunities only after they return from their summer holiday.

"So we are doing a lot more headhunting and competitive mapping to find the right talent for these positions," Albans said.

Albans' comments are mirrored by the latest Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG Report on Jobs, released this week, which found that growth in permanent placements hit a 26-month high in June.

Temporary appointments also accelerated, at the fastest rate seen for at seven months. Overall, vacancies were at a three-year high.

Kevin Green, chief executive of REC, said the UK jobs market appears to be in "blast-off" mode.

"The UK jobs market has been agile enough to weather the recession and emerge with more people in work than ever before and has performed considerably better than our European counterparts," Green said.

"Roles in engineering and IT are in ever-increasing demand as recruiters struggle to source the talent that businesses need to succeed. However, more roles, such as sales and digital marketing, have been added to this growing list in the past couple of months and show no signs of disappearing."

He added that salaries in growth sectors are now rising faster than they have for two years - due to the current war for talent.

Bernard Brown, partner and head of business services at KPMG, said many employers have stepped up their search for staff, and at the same time, candidates are being cautious at the moment.

"Yet, if the economy continues along its current path, it is likely that candidates will also step out in increasing numbers as the year goes on," Brown said. "Perhaps the sun has finally come out to shine on the jobs market and economy at large?"