Channel recruitment firm reports spike in demand
Vacancies taken on by CRS up 84 per cent this year as vendors, distributors and resellers move onto front foot
The jobs market in the IT channel is returning to rude health, according to a recruitment firm that is expanding its own headcount to cope with demand.
Specialist IT channel recruitment outfit Channel Recruitment Solutions (CRS) claims it has taken on 265 vacancies in 2014, 84 per cent up on last year, placing more than 70 candidates in the channel since January.
CRS sales director Zoe Albans, who took over the running of the firm in January, said the spike is due to vendors, distributors and resellers taking on more staff in response to rising sales.
Albans said rivals such as Robertson Sumner will be enjoying a similar hike in business, adding that CRS is itself looking to boost headcount from four to seven to handle the extra demand.
Sixty per cent of the positions are mid- to junior-level vacancies, with 40 per cent more senior or specialist roles, Albans (pictured, second from right) said.
Resellers can often be CRS' trickiest customers because many approach recruitment with unrealistic expectations, Albarns said.
"If resellers are open to taking on candidates that have a strong sales background and who can hit the ground running by hitting the phones and generating new business, there are plenty out there," she explained. "But if they only want candidates with a book of accounts, they are going to hit a brick wall.
"We could win business all day, every day with resellers but we don't tend to work with them as heavily because they tend to all want the same thing."
CRS is hoping to expand its team to 10 staff and hit sales of £1m next year, said Albans, who took over the running of the firm from Gary Janes in January.