City Comment: Sue Dodd
28 March 2012
All signs point East? After a worrying time through Q4, when clients across the globe slowed down their hiring as business confidence became increasingly affected by macro economic uncertainty, Q1 2012 has been fairly benign for many recruiters. Yes, there are trouble spots – the UK market has seen extremely diverse reports perhaps in some cases as much linked to internal issues as external markets and Southern Europe is a minefield of broken opportunity.
Fri, 9 Mar 2012 | By Sue Dodd, director, Agile Intelligence
All signs point East? After a worrying time through Q4, when clients across the globe slowed down their hiring as business confidence became increasingly affected by macro economic uncertainty, Q1 2012 has been fairly benign for many recruiters. Yes, there are trouble spots – the UK market has seen extremely diverse reports perhaps in some cases as much linked to internal issues as external markets and Southern Europe is a minefield of broken opportunity.
That said the tone of the statements emanating from several companies in recent weeks has undoubtedly improved discernibly. This, as the Eurozone problems temporarily abated, buying time for its members while economic news from across the Pond becomes more bullish. Nevertheless, the message from the global players is mainly that East is best (especially if you also veer a little to the South then keep going….).
Financial services apart, Michael Page especially alludes to either stabilisation at lower rates or further growth in activity levels in several key markets as its group net fees rose around 10% in the first two months of 2012. Others such as Harvey Nash and Robert Walters appear cautiously to confirm these findings. Overall it seems that, financials or banking apart, after the Q4 wobble, growth now remains strong in Asia, Australasia and Latin America (it is East of Asia!) but may also now be recovering in North America as better economic news emerges.
Australia is singled out for praise by several recruiters with its mining and resources-based economy benefitting from even the smallest upturn in global manufacturing output. Latin America, in the news this week as Brazil claims its slot as the sixth largest global economy, has well-documented growth prospects.
However, that’s not the whole story. In Europe, too, there remain positive performances but care is required; even Eastern Europe still offers growth opportunity although much more mired in the sovereign debt crisis than further afield. Germany especially was a strong performer and in the UK where economic gloom and doom has ruled at times but not always deservedly so, there are still strong success stories, which may hearten investors.
Take Staffline’s annual results announced this past week, with earnings per share ahead 9% as operating profit before amortisation rose 32%. These together with a 15% hike in the dividend represent a heady combination for a blue collar UK recruiter, which appears to have nurtured its onsite business model into a win/win during recession or recovery. Its recent appointment of Diane Martyn as a non-executive director, bringing her huge experience running major recruitment businesses, also looks to be a good move. Its share price, still below the peak, has recovered 30% this year so far.
Sue Dodd, director, Agile Intelligence
All signs point East? After a worrying time through Q4, when clients across the globe slowed down their hiring as business confidence became increasingly affected by macro economic uncertainty, Q1 2012 has been fairly benign for many recruiters. Yes, there are trouble spots – the UK market has seen extremely diverse reports perhaps in some cases as much linked to internal issues as external markets and Southern Europe is a minefield of broken opportunity.
That said the tone of the statements emanating from several companies in recent weeks has undoubtedly improved discernibly. This, as the Eurozone problems temporarily abated, buying time for its members while economic news from across the Pond becomes more bullish. Nevertheless, the message from the global players is mainly that East is best (especially if you also veer a little to the South then keep going….).
Financial services apart, Michael Page especially alludes to either stabilisation at lower rates or further growth in activity levels in several key markets as its group net fees rose around 10% in the first two months of 2012. Others such as Harvey Nash and Robert Walters appear cautiously to confirm these findings. Overall it seems that, financials or banking apart, after the Q4 wobble, growth now remains strong in Asia, Australasia and Latin America (it is East of Asia!) but may also now be recovering in North America as better economic news emerges.
Australia is singled out for praise by several recruiters with its mining and resources-based economy benefitting from even the smallest upturn in global manufacturing output. Latin America, in the news this week as Brazil claims its slot as the sixth largest global economy, has well-documented growth prospects.
However, that’s not the whole story. In Europe, too, there remain positive performances but care is required; even Eastern Europe still offers growth opportunity although much more mired in the sovereign debt crisis than further afield. Germany especially was a strong performer and in the UK where economic gloom and doom has ruled at times but not always deservedly so, there are still strong success stories, which may hearten investors.
Take Staffline’s annual results announced this past week, with earnings per share ahead 9% as operating profit before amortisation rose 32%. These together with a 15% hike in the dividend represent a heady combination for a blue collar UK recruiter, which appears to have nurtured its onsite business model into a win/win during recession or recovery. Its recent appointment of Diane Martyn as a non-executive director, bringing her huge experience running major recruitment businesses, also looks to be a good move. Its share price, still below the peak, has recovered 30% this year so far.
Sue Dodd, director, Agile Intelligence
