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Editor in Chief:
Joan Caruso
Writer:
Catherine Carlozzi
Designer:
Loan Tran
If you have questions or comments on this month's issue, send your feedback to loan.tran@ayers.com
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Staffing/IT Consulting—Intelligence From The Front
The drumbeat of good economic news is getting louder.
- GDP continues to grow.
- Payroll numbers have risen for nine straight months.
- Nearly 1 million jobs were created in the last three months alone.
- The global economy is also positioned for continued growth.
Half of all executives responding to a Conference Board survey in April expect a hiring rise in their industries—the highest percentage since 1991, when the survey began. As optimism returns to Corporate America and companies open their wallets, much of their capital spending is focused on the tech sector.
To get a first-hand look at the improving marketplace, the Ayers Report sat down with Ayers’ President of Staffing Services, Bob Deissig, and Managing Directors Donna Held (IT Consulting), Bill Kirk (Rye), and Harry Plastik (New York, London)
AR: Bob, give us an overview of what you’re seeing out there.
Deissig: Business is very good, and the momentum in the technology job market continues to grow. March, April, and May were the biggest months our group has had during my 13+ years at Ayers. We are making placements at all levels across a wide spectrum of disciplines, and the number of consulting assignments has increased nicely as well. We continue to pick up new clients in financial services and other industries, including health care.
AR: Is the activity focused here in the U.S. or in the new London office?
Deissig: It’s across the board. In fact, we recently added three new Senior Recruiters—two in London and one in Princeton—and hope to add another in New York on the consulting side.
AR: You said consulting activity is up. What trends are you seeing in the IT consulting practice?
Held: We are doing more project-based consulting than right-to-hire placements at the moment, although there are some of both. Rates are beginning to increase. And there has been a change in the marketplace with regard to Project Managers. It’s no longer enough to be the old-fashioned kind of Project Manager. Clients are looking for people with experience in Six Sigma or the Rational Unified Process® (RUP) programming methodology.
AR: What trends are you seeing in recruiting?
Kirk:
Employers are loosening their requirements. When it was a buyer’s market, they could hold out for candidates with very specific, even exhaustive, skill sets. Now they can’t afford to do that. When you lock in on a good candidate, you may find three or four firms competing against you—particularly in the case of candidates with very specific, highly sought-after skills sets or a hot technology in their backgrounds.
Deissig: We’ve also begun seeing signing bonuses again, although it’s not widespread.
AR: So what skills are hot right now?
Kirk: Candidates with technical skills in program trading and fixed-income credit derivatives—programmers, developers, analysts, etc.—can pretty much pick where they want to go. These are two of the hottest areas. We also have had success lately in the world of electronic trading.
AR: That’s a relatively new and highly competitive area, isn’t it?
Kirk: Yes, because electronic trading is faster and more efficient and cost-effective for block and high-volume trading. Some electronic trades are executed in an eighth of a second! That’s why this new technology is taking a toll on some traditional trading desks. Right now, institutions with electronic trading platforms are out there trying to convince hedge funds and others to trade through them rather than going to the trouble and expense of building, staffing, and funding their own systems. It’s a battle over who has the fastest, more effective, most technologically sound system—and the best people to market it! We recruit for the whole gamut of electronic trading—technical people, business managers, and marketing/sales—on a global basis.
AR: What other kinds of openings are you seeing?
Plastik:
We are working on openings in every conceivable area—business-process reengingeering, infrastructure, development, telecommunications, etc.—all within investment banking, management consulting, and the software industry, as well as electronic trading. We recently placed a Managing Director and European Head of Fixed-Income IT and a Global Head of IT Resourcing, both at major investment banks in London. And we’ve filled a lot of senior positions at lower levels as well. Business is very good!
[PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION]
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