“There are encouraging signs,” says Bob Deissig, President of Staffing Services at The Ayers Group. “Technology managers are telling us that staffing cuts have begun to affect their companies’ service levels and ability to remain competitive. After being tight for so long, they need to start adding staff.”
Ayers recently completed a successful search for Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC, one of the largest multinational financial services groups. As a result of that search, conducted by Vice President
Harry Plastik, Raymond Dury has been appointed as Managing Director and Global Head of IT Infrastructure. Formerly the CIO of Ameritrade Holding Corporation, he is based in London. The firm completed a successful retained search, conducted by Vice President Jack Schwartz, for the Vice President of Information Technology and Logistics for Bruno Magli, USA. And it also placed a Managing Director of Fixed Income Derivatives Technology at a major investment bank.
In another indicator of increasing activity, Ayers has taken on a number of new retained- and contingency-search assignments. “Openings are up, and we’re getting assignments from new clients as well as our existing base,” says Deissig. “We’re currently doing retained searches for a CTO, Chief Information Security Officer, Director of Infrastructure, and VP of Applications Development—all for professional services firms—and a VP of Systems for a financial services client.
“We continue our strategy of diversification,” he continues. “As we move beyond the financial sector into other industries, we’re finding a warm reception. We've opened some new doors and established some new relationships for the future."
The firm’s IT Consulting Practice is finding the same as it pursues a parallel strategy. “As we expand our client base into consumer products and services, we have been very successful in fostering business relationships in these sectors, “ says practice head Donna Held. “In terms of existing clients in the financial services industry, we continue to see pockets of business in areas such as infrastructure support and database development.” The group has multiple requirements for Project Leaders and Managers, Quality Assurance Analysts, Database Administrators, and JAVA Developers, among other positions.
The firm also continues to work at establishing its new information risk and security practice. According to Plastik, who adds this new practice to his oversight responsibilities, Ayers is interviewing and building a pool of potential candidates. The Ayers team will be recruiting at all levels, for positions that range from Director of Global Information Security and Risk to Manager of Security Operations, and from Network Security, Infrastructure, and Firewall Engineers to Security and Systems Analysts.
