Jobs market mirrors economic realities

With mergers, downsizing and
company closures the order of
the day as economic realities
kick in, the current jobs market
mirrors the broader industry
landscape.
At the end of last year we saw
the likes of Maersk Line axing
4 000 jobs from its global landbased
staff to cope with what
commentators are calling the
deepest market slump in the
industry since the 2009 global
financial crisis.
Some smaller companies
are closing their doors,
according to Terri Smith of
Tiger Recruitment, while some
larger and better established
operators are downsizing or
merging – and retrenchments
are a logical consequence.
“Many of those retrenched
have worked for decades at their
current companies,” says Dr
Lynn Ribton-Turner of Ribton-
Turner Recruitment, “but
often due to a restructure in
the region the senior roles are
pushed up to Dubai or Europe
and in many instances there is
no longer a sub-Saharan team.”
“Staff cutbacks have been
particularly evident in clearing
and forwarding operations
and sales teams,” says Morne
Steffens of Communicate
Personnel. “We’ve also seen
a number of companies
centralising their operations
departments in a specific
region, which also results in job
losses.”
But in an industry with
a skills dearth the market
remains buoyant for candidates
with good skills, says Steffens.
Kim Botti of Lee Botti &
Associates agrees. “Skills are in
demand and candidates with
the relevant backgrounds are
employable. Because companies
don’t have the time to train
staff they’re often prepared
to reach a salary compromise
for the right candidate. With
the already critical shortage
of skills, the lack of training
is however a major issue,” she
adds.
“During November,
December and January we have
been exceptionally busy,” says
Ribton-Turner. “In spite of the
weak economy there is a good
selection of jobs available across
all levels such as operations,
sales, management and
executive.
“There is however extreme
pressure from the companies
that are employing, both global
and local, for BEE candidates
– particularly at management
and executive level.”
Packages are however on
the whole not as flexible as
they used to be, says Jill Scott
of Jill Scott & Associates.
“Older candidates are the most
vulnerable and often accept
positions at lower salaries
because they are so desperate
to earn – especially after being
retrenched.”
For those who are employed,
low or no increases are not
uncommon, and increases are
generally just above inflation,
says Botti.
“Companies in 2016 do
not appear to be increasing
their salary brackets and are
maintaining tight control on
the salaries for job offers. Even
for excellent high achievers we
have a problem negotiating
above the bar,” says Ribton-
Turner.
Clearly 2016 will be a
difficult year, says Scott. “But
having returned recently from
Europe, I found that they
too were experiencing more
difficult times and gearing
themselves accordingly.
“All we can do is embrace it
and trim our sails according to
the direction of the wind.”