The hiring market has picked up dramatically, according to the President of Staffing Services at The Ayers Group. “The mood is optimistic,” says Bob Deissig. “Many major financial services companies are beginning to open up. Our existing clients are becoming more active, and we continue to pick up new ones. Clients are moving projects from 2004 into 2003. They’re hiring at the junior and intermediate as well as senior levels. And for the first time in a long time, they’re being allowed to replace employees who leave—all encouraging signs.”
The Ayers executive notes that a number of the firm’s retained searches are coming to a successful conclusion. A search conducted by Managing Director Harry Plastik has resulted in the hiring of a CIO and Global Head of Fixed Income Technology for the American operations of a global investment bank. The candidate will be the creative force behind global technology solutions and platforms.
The firm also is working on filling requirements for senior-level security and risk-management people and recently filled a business-continuity/disaster-recovery-management position for a major insurance company.
Consulting comes back first
Third-quarter 2003 showed an upward trend for Ayers’ IT Consulting Practice as well—a trend that has continued into the current quarter and is expected to carry over into 2004.
“Typically when the market recovers, consulting comes back first,” practice head Donna Held observes. “Companies are short-staffed, and last quarter they began hiring consultants to fill in the gaps. Now clients are telling us they need to ramp up but are uncertain what their head counts will be. Beginning in the first quarter, when they receive their budgets, they expect to do a lot of staff supplementation with the intent of exercising the right to hire during the course of the year. Until they know for certain about head count, this is how they intend to proceed.”
The Managing Director notes that demand for consultants continues to be heaviest on the infrastructure side. Among the positions the firm has been filling are requirements for Database Administrators, Architects, Project Managers, and Graphic Designers.
There may be another factor in this fourth-quarter increase, according to Bob Deissig. “When times were better, it was almost automatic for an employer making a key year-end hire to match the bonus the new employee was leaving behind. Even though things are loosening up, most companies won’t offer signing incentives and most employees won’t walk away from bonuses to take new positions. Hiring consultants to meet specific needs is the obvious alternative.
