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Filed Under: Recruiter Confidence Index

 
Confidence among executive recruiters edged up slightly in January as they projected that one in five companies will be adding executive level positions and almost six in 10 companies will selectively "trade up" their management bench strength by recruiting replacements for existing roles over the next six months. Only 1 percent of employers were expected to eliminate executive positions during the same period.

 

 
Executive recruiters enter the new year more confident in the growth potential for the executive employment market than they've been since mid-2011.

In December, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 55 percent of 126 executive search firm respondents are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, up 13 points from November.

 

 
Mixed economic signals of late further reinforce the notion that executive job search and career transition will continue to require a thoughtful campaign of several months to achieve success.

The findings of a new survey by ExecuNet of 180 executive recruiters, reveal that currently employed business executives should expect to spend, on average, nearly seven months to find their next career opportunity, while those currently unemployed may require an average of just over 10 months to find their next senior-management job.

 

 
In October, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 37 percent of 139 executive search firm respondents are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, up five points from September.

 

Published on: Monday, October 10, 2011

Recruiter Confidence Slides on Economic Volatility

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In September, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 32 percent of executive search firm respondents are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, down four points from August. The percent of recruiters who were "not confident" the market would improve moved to historically high levels of 20 percent.

"Our latest data suggests savvy executives who think a career move may be in the cards as well as those already engaged actively in management job search should be cultivating their professional networks because it could be a longer process than they expect," says Mark M. Anderson, president and chief economist of ExecuNet. "The economy certainly isn't doing them any favors, but opportunity favors those who know what it takes to influence the hidden job market because the most attractive executive leadership roles aren't publicly advertised online or in print."

 

Published on: Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Economic Uncertainty Weighs on Recruiter Confidence

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In August, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 36 percent of executive search firm respondents are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, down six points from July.

 

Published on: Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Recruiter Confidence Dips Amid Economic Uncertainty

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In July, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 42 percent of 154 executive search firm respondents were "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, down 12 points from June.

 

Published on: Monday, June 27, 2011

Recruiter Confidence Sags Amid Mixed Economic Signals

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ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 54 percent of 153 executive search firm respondents were "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, down 12 points from May.

A string of mixed economic indicators and continued challenges related to unemployed weighed on recruiter confidence, which nonetheless remains in positive territory and which has trended very positively over most of the past 12 months.

 

 
At only 54,000 jobs created, the US jobs report on Friday was disappointing. Private sector jobs increased 83,000 but were still below the average of the first four months of 2011. Economists were expecting approximately 170,000 jobs to be added in May and similar numbers for the private sector.

One month does not make a trend, but the lower number of jobs created certainly shows a loss of momentum. It does continue to reinforce the unevenness of the recovery and shows the economy's continued slow advance against earlier hopeful expectations for a fuller rebound.

 

Published on: Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Don’t Read this Headline

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In case you hadn't noticed, an economic recovery is underway. Albeit, it's slow, but business and hiring growth is occurring. For the 16th consecutive month, ExecuNet's Executive Job Creation Index posted gains, and again, recruiter confidence is high.


 

 
In April, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 65 percent of 192 executive search firm respondents are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, up four points from March.

Two leading indicators of future executive job market expansion — a monthly reading on recruiter confidence and a separate forecast of executive job creation — remain decidedly strong in the face of a variety of cautions about the continued growth of the broader economy.

 

Published on: Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Recruiter Confidence Showing Signs Of Strength

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Two leading indicators of future executive job market expansion – a monthly reading on recruiter confidence and a separate forecast of executive job creation – remain decidedly strong in the face of a variety of cautions about the continued growth of the broader economy, based on market research by ExecuNet.

In April, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 65 percent of 192 executive search firm respondents are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, up four points from March.

 

 
Executive recruiters' six-month forecast of growth of executive hiring activity softened in February but remains buoyant as client corporations continue to hire selectively for new management leadership roles and upgrade with new hires for existing roles.

In February, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 68 percent of 164 responding executive recruiters are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months. That was down seven points from January but still far above the territory this index ranged in over much of the past year.

 

 
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.

 

Published on: Thursday, December 23, 2010

Recruiter Confidence Extends Upward Trend

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Two-thirds of executive recruiters believe that companies will hire more management talent over the next six months despite continued pressure to contain corporate headcount.

With fewer companies slashing executive-level jobs and more of them identifying skill set needs and gaps in talent that could prevent them from achieving corporate objectives in 2011, recruiters expect companies to do more management hiring if only to replace underperforming leaders with those more qualified to tackle shifting job responsibilities.

In December, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 66 percent of 144 responding executive recruiters are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, up five points from November and the highest confidence registered since the second quarter of 2008.

 

 
Executive recruiters are gaining confidence that economic growth, increased consumer spending and growing investor confidence will weigh positively on corporate business objectives — and management hiring plans — over the next six months.

In November, 61 percent of the 147 search firm respondents to ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index expressed they were either "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve during that time, based on their read of corporate hiring plans stretching well into 2011.

 

Published on: Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Recruiters Gaining Confidence in Executive Hiring Plans

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Executive recruiters are gaining confidence that the broader economic recovery will move more employers to add new executive jobs to their payrolls over the next six months.

In October, 55 percent of the 164 search firm respondents to ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index expressed they were either "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve during that time, based on the growth-related hiring plans of corporate clients and prospective clients.

 

 
The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the September job numbers and though the total non-farm employment (-95K) disappointed many, unemployment remained steady as a percentage (9.6 %) and there was private sector employment growth (+64K) with some revisions upward for prior months.

The environment remains "wait and see" until the election or beyond in many respects as companies stay on the side lines with plenty of cash and strong balance sheets and income statements to make a move. It remains all about business confidence.

 

 
Management Hiring Expected to Remain Steady until Fall Elections

Executive recruiters report the management employment marketplace is showing improvements in certain sectors of hiring activity but is also marked by lingering employer hesitancy about investing in new projects and leaders ahead of a more convincing economic recovery and the fall elections.

Signs of business reinvestment and increased executive hiring in select industry segments such as healthcare, technology and life sciences, and for management roles in sales, business development, engineering and marketing reveal no immediate indication of a "double dip" in economic growth.

In September, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index found that 50 percent of 147 responding executive recruiters are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, up four points from August.

 

 
Slower hiring by companies – even when they have vacant leadership roles – has dampened executive recruiters' confidence in overall management hiring activity through the end of the year.

In August, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 46 percent of 181 responding executive recruiters are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, down four points from July and the first index reading below 50 percent since October 2009.

 

 
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.

 

Published on: Thursday, July 08, 2010

Slow but Steady

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Listening to the media's analysis of the job reports last Friday, where 125,000 jobs were lost in the economy, reminded me of the old story about the pessimist and the optimist and the glass filled only to the mid-point. Is it "half-empty" as the pessimist would call it or "half-full" as the optimist would?

Pessimists read into the employment numbers, as one Wall Street Journal headline did, that the number just passed "the crash test" — meaning that the numbers were barely encouraging except for those looking for a "double dip" in the economy.

Optimists saw "steady but slow" growth in private sector employment over the past six to nine months, and the wow for them was how much better things were than last year, even as recently as last fall.

 

 
Executive recruiters' optimism about growth in the executive employment market over the next six months softened slightly in June, but their confidence in management hiring plans in the short-term hit a two-year high.

In June, ExecuNet's benchmark Recruiter Confidence Index revealed that 58 percent of 174 responding executive recruiters are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve over the next six months, down from 65 percent in May.

But confidence about the continued growth of the executive employment market over the next three months reached a two-year high in June, hitting 51 percent.

 

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