Hays Office Support - January 2008
Hotspots
The first quarter of 2008 is a very active one for office support recruitment, as businesses commence the New Year and determine the support staff they require for the year ahead. As a result, there is a definite upswing in vacancies yet the shortage of experienced skills means solid candidates will be snapped up with speed.
Demand is highest for specialist secretaries, such as legal secretaries, while legal personal assistants are also in demand.
Experienced receptionists are required at the $30,000 to $35,000 level, as these candidates typically seek career advancement opportunities outside the reception function, especially at this time of year when candidates often decide they want a role where they can tackle new challenges.
Entry-level candidates are also required as employers actively progress the career of their administrators through internal promotions in order to retain their knowledge. Vacancies are generally around the $26,000 to $35,000 level and those with basic administration experience are ideally sought. These vacancies generally offer excellent opportunities for career progression and development.
Finally, high-level executive and personal assistants with advanced skills in Word and Excel and specialist knowledge in TRIM, SAP and Oracle are also required for long-term temporary roles. These candidates need high-level skills so they can hit the ground running as employers lack the time to train candidates into the role.
The coming quarter
The volume of permanent and temporary jobs will increase in this first quarter of the year, with healthy levels of turnover ensuring a very active market. For newly created roles, businesses prefer to employ temporary staff initially until the full functions of the role are established to allow maximum benefit to the company. This is ensuring the market remains active, although often these candidates are offered the role on a permanent basis, which further stretches the available temporary candidate pool.
Senior recruitment
Significant requirements for executive assistants with four or more years experience remain, however demand outstrips supply, particularly for those with IT industry experience. Project management experience or specialist knowledge is also often sought. Executive assistants are no longer seen as administrators but rather as part of the management team who need to have business acumen.
Salaries
Salary trends remain similar to last quarter, with overall salaries expected to remain steady or increase only slightly in response to the demand for quality candidates. Salary increases have been highest over the last year for candidates with specialist backgrounds, such as in information technology and financial services, while personal and executive assistants have also received strong salary increases over the past 12 months as a result of the demand for their services.
Employers are offering additional benefits such as health care, parking, social activities, bonuses and regular salary reviews, to differentiate their company from others.
Some candidates in demand seem to feel they can dictate how much they should be paid and their salary expectations are sometimes inflated. This results in a differentiation between employer and candidate expectations. However while companies will increase salaries to secure candidates, there is a limit and candidates should be realistic in their expectations.
The Hays Salary Survey is a guide to typical market salaries and can be viewed at www.hays.com.au/salary
Candidate trends
A higher number of senior executive assistants are exploring permanent opportunities at present, while there has been a decrease in candidate availability at the entry-level as these candidates are often employed quickly.
While employers have raised hourly rates to attract temporary candidates, some candidates are leaving a current assignment before completion in order to secure a role elsewhere that offers a higher rate. However candidates need to be aware that this is only a short-term gain; employers seek demonstrated commitment in potential new staff members (even for temporary roles) and when several temporary roles have been abandoned early, future potential employers will question your commitment.
