Well, I guess it's an entirely predictable Blog for a recruiter in January. New Year, New Career and all that. Today is Tuesday 2nd January 2024 and it's the first day back after the Christmas break. I genuinely love the Christmas break - it's the only time of year when I genuinely switch off. As someone who runs their own business, even when you're on holiday, you check emails. But I can honestly say that from the 22nd December to today, I didn't even look. Fabulous.
I did think that most people would also be off this week. Particularly those with school age children but it has been surprisingly busy. Yes, a good few people have updated their CVs over Christmas which is great but also a few clients who were urgently looking to fill roles pre-Christmas have come back eager to fight over the new people who are on the market. January is often a busy month - which is just as well because I don't really like any other aspect of it, especially with the grey, miserable rain and short days.
2023 was a funny old year. It came after two absolutely bumper years with unprecedented levels of recruitment across the agency world. 2023 maintained a level of buoyancy at junior and mid-weight levels but for Senior level people in Client Services, Project Management and Digital Marketing it was very slow. The British economy felt quite uncertain and the effects of the Ukraine/Russia conflict have definitely impacted our sector's clients which in turn impacted us. The high cost of living meant that some individuals were searching for higher salaries but with higher levels of redundancy than we've seen for over 3 years, I think a lot of people also sat tight with current employers.
Who knows what 2024 will bring. I'm in the midst of my annual salary survey at the moment and that will make for interesting reading later in the month (I hope!).
So if you're an agency looking for a recruitment partner in 2024, please get in touch and if you're in client services, project management, digital marketing, PR, content marketing or even in-house, it's always worth keeping an eye on the market and I'm always happy to have a chat.
I also offer a referral scheme where if someone recommends a candidate to me who I then place in a permanent role, I'll give them £150. Good people know Good people and I'm always delighted when I'm recommended by people who I have helped.
Wishing all my candidates and clients health and happiness in 2024.
fiona.christian@perfectmarketingpeople.com
07976 125963