Published on: Friday, February 04, 2011
Executive Recruiting Gains Momentum: Expect Growth in 2011
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Confidence among executive recruiters continues to climb as an increase in management recruiting activity confirms that more companies are thinking about growth in 2011, and more business leaders are poised to explore their career options.
In January, ExecuNet’s benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 75 percent of 188 responding executive recruiters are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, reflecting a five-month surge in recruiter confidence in increased executive hiring activity.
Recruiter Confidence in the Executive Employment Market — Next 6 Months
"Companies are using their networks and tapping employee referrals to recruit new management talent into their organizations, but we’re also seeing more employers turn to executive search as a means of upgrading or replacing management talent to meet business growth objectives," says Mark Anderson, President and Chief Economist of ExecuNet, the private membership network for senior business executives and those who recruit them.
"What may be more revealing for the longer-term is that very few companies continue to eliminate management roles." Anderson adds, "The bunker mentality is waning. More executives are feeling confident about their career prospects; fewer of them are looking inside their current companies for a sense of job security but are actively and quietly looking outside their current environment to advance their careers. This is increasing the motion in the job market."
Introduced in May 2003, ExecuNet's Recruiter Confidence Index is based on a monthly survey of executive search firms and recognized as a leading indicator for the economy and the executive job market. A reading above 50 percent indicates recruiters are "confident" or "very confident" the number of executive search assignments launched by employers in the next six months will increase.
Joseph Daniel McCool
Joseph Daniel McCool is senior contributing editor with ExecuNet and principal of management recruiting/succession advisory firm The McCool Group. He is also the author of Deciding Who Leads: How Executive Recruiters Drive, Direct & Disrupt the Global Search for Leadership Talent, recognized widely as "one of the best business books of 2008," and its Brazilian Portuguese translation, Escolhendo Líderes, published in June 2010.
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