Recruitment set for growth in 2012?

Our world at the moment is so fast moving that sometimes keeping up with the news is almost impossible - with the European sovereign debt crisis; the demise of the UK banking system; national debt over one trillion pounds for the first time ever and unemployment rising rapidly, particularly among the under twenty fives.

All fairly depressing, on the face of it.  However, from a recruitment perspective the outlook appears to be far more positive.  Whilst preparing our budgets at the backend of 2011, two major factors stood out; firstly, our permanent sales were forecast to double in 2012, and secondly, the business sales would grow substantially on the previous year - setting the outlook for the year ahead to be pretty positive.

One month down, and the above forecasts are transpiring - to date our sales are up 10% on our budget.  This is across the board - interim and permanent, public and private sectors and within both the finance and legal sectors.

I think this is for a number of reasons.  As a business we boast a very stable sales team across the offices, which are reaping the rewards of long-standing relationships and repeat business from our client base, which is consequently driving growth.  Secondly, after such a terrible year in 2011 over the crisis in Europe, which led to many organisations sitting on 'capital investments,' major decisions are now being made as pressure increases for change to take place. Thirdly, the public sector markets are holding up, with recruitment requirements within legal and finance remaining strong.

In further support of this, a recent economic forecast from the CBI indicates that the UK is set to avoid a double dip recession; predicting growth of 0.9% in 2012 and 2% next year. The CBI states from their findings that companies are starting to invest in new equipment and in finding new export markets. Whilst this is undoubtedly still a tentative statement, upon reflection of the growth I have seen in the recruitment market, I remain positive that our economy is on the road to recovery. After a substantial period of stagnation and inertia relating to decision-making and investment, the time has come for projects to get the "green light”.