Press Coverage
Stay ahead of any downturn
The Times - 2001-06-21
The jury is still out on whether we are really going to be hit by a serious economic downturn. So says Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR). However, industry is suffering and companies in many sectors are cutting down on costs to prepare for the worst.
Zena Everett is the managing director of Perriam & Everett, a recruiters' recruiter. Recruitment should be one area where employers will be cutting down if they believe hard times are coming. "Yes, clients are being wary but we are still recruiting recruiters," she says. "We use head-hunting methods in our field and there has been no change there, with plenty of business still going on."
However, she adds that this is a good time for smaller companies to hire the skilled people they have had difficulty in recruiting until now. Why? Because, says Ms Everett, many larger companies are employing a headcount freeze. So is there a downturn or isn't there?
"It is a cautious period, but we are in danger of talking ourselves into a slump. I set up this company just after the last recession at the beginning of the Nineties and I know you've got to keep your head up and keep going," she says.
"There are still skills shortages in every area and the best way for job seekers to keep themselves in demand is by keeping their skills updated, maintaining a good CV and making sure they have good commercial work experience."
The effects of the last recession - where redundancies ruined people's lives, recruitment came almost to a stop and graduates took any job going just to be in work - nearly wiped out the bottom rungs of the career ladder. It took some years to fill the skills gap this created.
