Slow but steady hiring for executive management continues to move some US employers closer to their strategic goals, but lingering economic uncertainty is tempering executive recruiters' confidence that the pace of job growth will accelerate over the next six months.

In July, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 50 percent of 163 responding executive recruiters are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months — down from 58 percent in June and a 2010 high of 65 percent in May.

Recruiter Confidence in the Executive Employment Market Next 6 Months"As we reported in the first half of 2010, executive recruiters are seeing a slow, steady and selective rebuild of corporate management teams, but lingering uncertainty about consumer spending, the real estate market and the implications of regulatory reform are weighing heavily on their outlook," says Mark Anderson, President and Chief Economist of ExecuNet, the private membership network for senior business executives and those who recruit them. "Despite the optimism that emerged earlier this year when hiring began to exceed cutbacks, this uncertainty has more recruiters expecting any surge to be deferred until business decisions and recruiting mandates can be pursued with more confidence."

Introduced in May 2003, ExecuNet's Recruiter Confidence Index is based on a monthly survey of executive search firms and is recognized as a leading indicator for the economy and the executive job market. A reading at 50 percent or above indicates recruiters expect the number of search assignments 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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