IN its latest North East Salary Guide, Thorpe Molloy Recruitment reports a rise in permanent staff placements and temporary appointments, indicative of the high business confidence in the region.
The fourth annual guide, which focuses on Aberdeen city and shire, provides comprehensive information on basic salary levels for junior through to senior roles in the company’s recruitment specialisms.
It reports that although levels of recruitment are high for its predominantly oil and gas sector clients, prevalent key concerns remain: the lack of available candidates in certain niche roles; escalating contractor rates; employee retention and competitive benefits packages.
Amanda McCulloch, managing director, explains “Since our previous Salary Guide a year ago there’s been a positive shift in resourcing across a number of our specialisms including the executive market where I’ve witnessed an increase in the use of lucrative LTIPs based on rigorous performance criteria and, as a result of increased private equity investment, new executive positions offering tremendous career development opportunities.
“The job outlook for marketing and business development professionals is at its most positive since we began our guide in 2010 with companies investing in these areas to improve their competitive edge and capitalise on a busy commercial market.
“Meanwhile, demand in the oil and gas sector for accountancy and finance professionals has outstripped demand from other sectors in Scotland.”
The report also reveals increased demand for experienced safety and HR professionals and highlights that the constructive efforts by employers to tackle the skills shortage, through the employment of EU candidates who have relocated to the area and hiring technicians with transferrable skills from other professions, are creating placement opportunities for the company’s Professional Trades specialism.
Amanda continues: “Although there’s excellent collaborative work targeting skills shortage issues, a significant barrier to more efficient resourcing is the insistence from employers that candidates have oil and gas experience.
“In many non-technical or support function roles this is not essential yet excellent, suitably qualified candidates are not being considered because they lack this pre-requisite.
“The recruitment process is also being hampered by the increase in the use of counter-offers, most frequently encountered by our commercial contracts team.
“This practice usually retains the employee but it does nothing to address the issue of a tight talent pool.
“Currently, companies prefer to offer staff roles in order to make a permanent appointment to help retain talent. Nevertheless, the contract market remains healthy with contractors being placed in management positions which could leave employers exposed in the longer term.
“We’ve received feedback that our Salary Guides provide useful information for benchmarking and headcount planning, but in the current market I hope that this year’s report will also provide useful information for candidates to understand their current value, particularly those who have not evaluated their salary for 18 – 24 months.
“Conversely, though, in this candidate driven market, some expectations need to be tempered as those who choose to hold out for inflated rates create a protracted hiring process which usually only serves to frustrate the employer.”
Amanda concludes: “Finally, word seems to have reached the central belt that Aberdeen is a great place to live and work.
“Over the past 12 months our consultants have met with an increasing number of candidates who have no connection to the area but decide to relocate here for enhanced remuneration, benefits and career prospects.”
To request a copy of Thorpe Molloy Recruitment’s latest Salary Guide, please visit www.thorpemolloy.com/request-salary-guide.php or telephone 01224 327 000.
Notes to editor
Aberdeen based specialist recruitment consultancy, Thorpe Molloy Recruitment Ltd was established in 1997. Led by Managing Director, Amanda McCulloch, it is an award winning business specialising in Executive, Accountancy & Finance, Business Development, Commercial Contracts, Human Resources, Legal, Marketing, Office Personnel, QHSE, Professional Trades and Supply Chain resourcing.
Contact details
For further information, please contact:
| Contact | Jacqueline Christie, Communication Manager |
| Address | 38 Albyn Place, Aberdeen AB10 1YN |
| Telephone | 01224 658 865 |
| jchristie@thorpemolloy.com |
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