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Episode 19
380 Plays1 year ago
In just 15-20 minutes each week, we bring you up-to-speed on the latest industry developments. Tune in to hear Ross and Adele provide news updates and engage with the week's burning question. Stay connected to your local recruitment landscape with us!
Question of the week: "Can you build strong relationships if you meet online?"
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Transcript
Job Market Trends in June 2023
00:00:07
Speaker
This is the news for week commencing 24th of July, 2023. Online job advertisements at the national level decreased 2% in June, 2023 to standard at 276,400 according to Jobs and Skills Australia. All states and territories recorded declines in advertised vacancies except Tasmania. Over the year to June, 2023, online job advertisements decreased nationally by 8.9%.
00:00:36
Speaker
Recruitment activity decreased across all major occupation groups with the strongest declines observed for technicians and trades workers down 3.5% and clerical and administrative workers down 2.5%.
Regional Growth vs National Decline
00:00:49
Speaker
Vacancies for professionals in regional Australia increased by 5.1%, incomplete contradiction to the aggregate national trend for the period. Meanwhile, SEEK reported that job ads fell by 2.3% month on month in June.
00:01:04
Speaker
and are now 22.1% lower compared to June last year. Applications per job ad rose in most industries, most notably by 8% in trades and services, IT, engineering and consulting and strategy. Applications per job ad have risen 11 of the past 12 months.
Recruitment and Financial Impacts
00:01:23
Speaker
Hayes ANZ reported another decline in quarter of results as permanent fees slumped 22% year on year on a 28% decline in volume. Temporary net fee income declined by 9%, leading to an overall decline of 15% in total net fee income for the June 2023 quarter, compared to the equivalent 2022 quarter. On a regional level, Hayes ACT dropped 23%,
00:01:51
Speaker
reflecting the changed approach to public sector staffing foreshadowed by the new federal Labour government. Victoria declined 20% and New South Wales was down by 17%. ASAS2 biggest local specialisms also recorded double digit drops with IT down 13% while construction and property fell 12%. ASANZ consultant headcount decreased by 2% in the quarter to 1067.
00:02:18
Speaker
which represented a 6% year on year decline. On a global basis, net fee income declined 2% on the back of a 9% drop in permanent placement income and a 4% rise in temporary net fee income. Hayes Germany was the star performer for the quarter with a 14% year on year rise in net fee income. No update was provided on the progress of recruiting a new global CEO with incumbent Alistair Cox due to retire later this year.
Legal Actions in the Workplace
00:02:49
Speaker
Goldman Sachs's former London-based recruitment chief has accused it of creating a culture of bullying that caused staff to sob through meetings and led to him having a mental breakdown. Ian Dodd, who was global head of recruiting, is suing the investment bank for ยฃ1 million, alleging that the pressure to work excessive hours caused him to have a mental breakdown. He alleged that senior managers at the bank ought to have known that he was becoming unwell.
00:03:16
Speaker
that he was at real risk of suffering a breakdown and that it was due to his work. In its defence, Goldman denied all of the allegations. The bank said, if Mr Dodd felt pressure, it was self-generated, it was not imposed on him. If he did work excessive hours, this was not because it was required or expected of him. Known for their long hours' culture, investment banks have tried to soften their image in recent years in an attempt to retain staff.
00:03:42
Speaker
In 2021, junior Goldman bankers begged to work just 80 hours a week after a leaked survey highlighted how inhumane expectations were leading to mental health issues among staff.
00:03:56
Speaker
The Labor hire authority in Victoria has launched legal action against a horticultural provider alleging it's subcontracted to unlicensed labor hire providers to provide workers to orchards in the Cobram area. The authority alleges that Honey Bunny Global Proprietary Limited engaged seven unlicensed labor hire providers and that its director was knowingly concerned in or party to the contravention. The alleged contravention carries maximum penalties of over $590,000 for a company
00:04:26
Speaker
and $145,000 for an individual, the highest monetary penalties applicable under the Labor High Licensing Act in Victoria. LHA informed Honey Bunny Global that it did not intend to renew their licensed student on compliance with the Labor High Licensing Act. Another Labor High firm was deregistered after it was accused of modern slavery
00:04:49
Speaker
Lynx employment was under investigation after claims that its workers were mistreated. Australian Workers Union National Secretary Paul Farrow said
00:04:57
Speaker
Our workers at Lynx have told us management withhold workers visas, refused to provide payslips and resort to bullying and threats to send workers home when concerns are raised. Time and again our members have told stories of Lynx management making excessive deductions from workers pay for substandard accommodation. Now the union says hundreds of Pacific Islander workers will be found new jobs after Lynx had its labour high licence revoked last week after a sustained union campaign.
New Pathways for Casual Workers
00:05:27
Speaker
Employment Minister Tony Burke yesterday confirmed the federal government will introduce a new pathway for casual workers to seek permanency which could kick in after six months of regular employment. As part of the government's next set of workplace reforms he says it will close the loophole that leaves people stuck as casuals when they actually work permanent regular hours. Full details of the reforms have not yet been released but Burke said the legislation will do two things.
00:05:55
Speaker
One, it'll create a right where those casuals who are getting permanent hours can go to the employer and say, these hours are permanent, I would like to be able to convert. And secondly, the definition of casual, which looked at whether or not you were in fact working as a casual or whether in fact you were working permanent hours will be defined. The government plans to retain the existing requirement for employers to offer permanency to regular casuals after 12 months
00:06:21
Speaker
However, it is also considering giving employees an option to request that earlier. For the majority of casuals, Burke says nothing will change for them, but for people who want security, this gives them a way to be able to do it.
Australia's Competitiveness and Labor Market
00:06:35
Speaker
In June, the International Institute for Management Development, IND, published their work
00:06:41
Speaker
World's competitiveness ranking for 2023. This list analyzes and ranks the capability of 64 countries to create and maintain an environment which sustains the competitiveness of enterprises. Australia placed 19th in the rankings again this year, the same as 2022, but three places higher than 2021.
00:07:01
Speaker
However, the current rating is a significant deterioration from the 2000s when we consistently placed in the top 10 countries globally. The IMD evaluates four criteria in determining a country's competitiveness, economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure. In terms of economic performance, Australia ranked first for terms of trade, seventh for our labour market, and tenth for international investment.
00:07:27
Speaker
Our strongest asset in 2023 was our credit rating for which we were ranked first. We also facilitate growth for new businesses being ranked fifth and sixth in startup days and startup procedures respectively. Despite the strong labor market, real wage growth has been stagnant and we're ranked 56th for our compensation levels and 47th for employee training.
Workplace Culture Issues in the UK
00:07:52
Speaker
A toxic culture of sexual harassment
00:07:55
Speaker
assault, racism and bullying has been alleged by more than 100 current and former UK staff at outlets of McDonald's. The BBC was told that workers some as young as 17 are being groped and harassed almost routinely. Multiple workers told the BBC that McDonald's managers at the outlets across the UK were responsible for the harassment and assaults. All too often senior managers are said to have failed to act on complaints.
00:08:22
Speaker
Staff also told the BBC of sexual relationships between managers and more junior staff members, which is against company policy. Young women described feeling constantly judged about how they looked. One current worker said she was seen by her male colleagues as fresh meat when she started at her branch in Nottingham. Other female workers said that they were forced by managers to wear uniforms that were too tight for them. The UK Equality Watchdog said it was concerned by the BBC's findings
00:08:50
Speaker
and is launching a new email hotline. McDonald's said it had fallen short and deeply apologized. It added that all employees deserve to work in a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace. McDonald's is one of the UK's largest private sector employers with more than 170,000 employees, three quarters of whom are aged between 16 and 25.
Can Strong Relationships Be Built Online?
00:09:18
Speaker
And on to question of the week Adele. A question this week. Can you build strong relationships if you only meet online? Oh, that's a hard no for me. That's definitely no. Really? I don't agree. I don't agree.
00:09:36
Speaker
All right. Tell me why. Okay. So the first thing is volume. Like you can fit in more meetings if you're not having to factor in travel time. So the opportunity to meet more people, I think is the first thing.
00:09:53
Speaker
Secondly, surely you're communicating something about your willingness to move with the times. You don't have to meet people face to face that you can meet on Zoom or FaceTime or whatever's appropriate. Surely that's sending a pretty clear message. You're also not restricting yourself to customers or prospects that are geographically close.
00:10:22
Speaker
Like it's a real pain. You've got to spend half a day potentially to get out and back to a client. Clearly being able to meet people via video removes all that.
00:10:38
Speaker
And then surely isn't there a much greater chance that the meeting actually happens because a video meeting is going to be shorter, typically 10, 15, 20, maybe 30 minutes clients less likely to cancel. I would think compared to.
00:10:56
Speaker
client looks at their schedule. I've got a meeting with a recruiter coming 30 minutes to 60 minutes. They're going to cancel. And of course the consequences if they don't actually cancel, but they're not there to see you actually gone to the client side.
00:11:11
Speaker
And they're either not there or they come out full of apologies. One time that happened to me, the person didn't even come out to apologize. The receptionist just apologized and said they couldn't see me. It's like far out. I was absolutely furious and didn't bother contacting that person ever again because of the disrespect I felt. So all of those things, I think,
00:11:33
Speaker
I would assert a good reasons that you can build strong relationships via video, but clearly you don't agree. You the old school Adele, come on, convince me. I am. All of what you said is relevant to convenience. I totally get that and I absolutely accept that it's a much modern way. Obviously post COVID it's the way that we recruit both meeting clients and candidates that way.
00:12:01
Speaker
You've really got to think about what you can't see via video. There are plenty of things that you can't ascertain about somebody via video. Some disabilities are not obvious. You can't smell the person. You can't, you know, BO and bad breath and all of those things are not apparent when you're on a video call. You can't tell if they are being coached from the side, if they've got notes that they're reading from, all of those kind of things.
00:12:29
Speaker
You're not seeing the whole picture of the person. So to me, that's not going to build a stronger relationship, whether that's, as I said, client or candidate. You're not getting the commitment to the process from them. It is too convenient. It is easy for somebody to jump on a video call when they're not really that interested or not really sure of the job, whereas if they need to come into your office or you need to meet them somewhere, they've got to go out of their way a little bit.
00:12:58
Speaker
I'm all for making sure the candidate commitment is there as part of that process. When you are on site with a client, you're absorbing that whole experience. The client-site tour is one of the most valuable aspects of the job briefing process, being able to work out how long it takes you to get there, what the parking situation's like, whether you can access the building easily, whether the people are friendly when you walk in and everyone says hi to you while you're standing in reception,
00:13:27
Speaker
all of those little things that we pick up and perceive as a recruiter, which are all well before you even meet the client and they sit down and start telling you what their company's about. All of that stuff is the stuff you'll never get online. And for me, it means that the relationship, I think the key word in this question is can you build a strong relationship? I think you can build a relationship, but I don't agree that it would be a very strong one if it's online only.
00:13:55
Speaker
Well, I suppose it depends on where in the process you are. So let's look at the prospect or client side that.
00:14:04
Speaker
If you're someone who is for the first time meeting a prospect or a client, then I think a video meeting is acceptable. If you're really going to build that relationship in the long term, then absolutely you'd still want to get out and see them. I think from a candidate point of view, it's a bit trickier because candidates know that the balance of power is shifted more towards them.
00:14:30
Speaker
Are they really going to commit to come in and see you when other recruiters don't request that? I mean, I know it's preferable, but does that mean as a recruiter, you have to do what we used to do with clients, which is go out and see them. Like you actually have to go out close to where the candidate is working so you can meet in the cafe. Uh, you know, it just, um, you know, raises quite a few questions for me, depending on whether it's a prospect, whether it's a client, whether it's a candidate.
00:15:00
Speaker
or whether it's someone that you're re-interviewing that is kind of a candidate coming back. This must be a debate that's happening in lots of recruitment agencies across the country, I suspect, and I suspect there's a group of people, maybe the owners sit on my side of that old school, as you said, view that you need to get out and see people again, and then the more modern, perhaps younger recruiter, let's say, that maybe has a view of, yes, it can all be done online.
00:15:28
Speaker
How do we give some advice to both parties in us? How do we conclude this? Well, I mean, I suppose I'm not sure about advice. What I'd be fascinated to know is what are recruitment agency owners or executives mandating or not? In other words, are they setting a company policy for online meetings? And if they are, is it different for candidates compared to clients?
00:15:58
Speaker
Are owners and executives just leaving it up to each recruiter or does it vary depending on whether it's perm or whether it's temp or contract? You know, these are the things that I don't have a big enough sample size from the people I speak to, to really know. And this is something that I, you know, maybe we should look at running a survey just to, just to find out what's actually going on. Cause I don't recall having
00:16:23
Speaker
actually read any hard data on this? Have you? No, I haven't either. And it would be interesting to see the flow on effect then of the output as well. So for those agencies that are purely digital and all online, are they seeing any data representing lack of candidates, loyalty and ghosting and client relationships that aren't as strong? It'd be really interesting to match up that data as well.
00:16:52
Speaker
Sure. I mean, yeah. I mean, are recruiters who are insisting on face to face meetings, are they delivering stronger results compared to their colleagues that don't? Is there a difference across divisions? Has it? I mean, if data was kept pre pandemic, does that show a significant difference? I mean, I think this is an area where
00:17:20
Speaker
with a proper sample size, some really rich data could come from it that would be really helpful for the industry. So I don't know whether there's a vendor out there who would be prepared to do this or maybe the RCS say, but I think this is an area certainly I get asked about and I suspect you do as well, Adele. Absolutely. Well, our question of the week raised more questions this time. Thanks for listening. Yes, I think definitely more questions than
00:17:47
Speaker
answers and I'll be keen to hear from our listeners.