ALMOST 40% OF EMPLOYERS WILL INCREASE BUSINESS SUPPORT HEADCOUNT SAYS NEW REPORT

Over half of employers will keep their permanent hiring of business support professionals at the same level and 39% will increase headcount during 2009. That’s according to the 2009 market report and salary survey just released by secretarial and business support recruiter Crone Corkill.

Aditionally, while general market data is predicting a downturn in temporary hiring overall, the report says that evolving legislative changes around flexible working practices will continue to impact on hiring demand. “Maternity leave, for example, is often a big driver of temporary demand,” says Tracy Durrant, Managing Director of Crone Corkill. “And with maternity and paternity leave rights becoming more generous, we would expect this to be a continuing trend throughout 2009.”

Other key findings from the report which surveyed employers across the commerce, industry, financial services and not for profit sectors included:

- Languages in high demand as organisations become more internationally focused
- An emerging trend towards the Team PA driven by challenging market conditions
- A trend towards longer term temporary contracts
- Legal Secretaries now much more involved in client facing duties such as events and marketing
- Over 20% of employers reported a shortage of receptionists and top level Executive Assistants
- 15% of employers said that they had plans to increase recruitment from overseas during 2009

The full report can be downloaded at http://www.cronecorkill.co.uk/pdf/cc_salary_survey.pdf

Tracey Dunn
BlueSky PR
www.bluesky-pr.net