Stafflink Solutions Blogger: IT Job Market 2011: Is This a Candidate’s Job Market?

Saturday, June 11, 2011

IT Job Market 2011: Is This a Candidate’s Job Market?

Who has the most power in the marketplace these days? Is it the candidate or the employer?

According to Statistics Canada our jobless rate is at 7.4% (http://reut.rs/jzgrHv ). This is at our lowest rate since June 2009, which was the beginning of the recession.

As the jobless rate decreases the power grows for technology job candidates. If you are in the manufacturing industry there are still struggles ahead. My expertise is around the technology world, and we are starting to see evidence of an emerging candidate's market.

What are some of the signs of a candidate's market?

Competition for candidates. Now it's normal for us to see candidates with multiple offers, but this didn't happen a year ago.
Empowered Candidates. Candidates are actually turning down reasonable job offers. One year ago candidates would jump at the first offer.
Employers are looking to fill teams. Some of our clients are winning projects and need to fill teams of 5 to 10 people or more. A year ago many of our clients were cancelling projects.
Less outsourcing. Fewer clients are outsourcing projects overseas which means more competition for candidates. Businesses have become very selective about what they outsource abroad. This means more jobs locally. Recently we had a client that did a cost comparison between outsourcing a team of three from India and hiring three local contractors. After considering the costs and the importance of delivery deadlines, they chose to hire local contractors because it was less expensive to do the work locally.
Small businesses are hiring. One of the main causes for the decrease in the jobless rate is the increase of self-employment and the success of small businesses. Over 30% of our job orders are now coming from small and medium sized businesses that are growing.

It's not a candidate's market for all candidates at this point. But the candidates that have the power these days are obviously the ones that are in demand. In my next article I'll tell you exactly which candidates are wielding the most power in the technology job market.

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