There are definitely signs of life again in the freight industry, as recruitment takes a noticeable jump for the third quarter of the year, according to Jaquie Hulley, senior recruitment consultant at Communicate Personnel and specialising in freight. “Things have definitely picked up, making it one of our best quarters ever,” she told FTW. “August was a very good month, but September was even better – and breaking our revenue record for the month.” One of the boosters behind this drive in the freight industry is that things have improved enough for new businesses to get established again. And this newcomer market, according to Hulley, is usually offering good salaries to attract quality personnel out of the established operations in the trade. Also, she added that the cut-throat nature of the industry was once again showing itself – with an expectation for sales people to be able to prove their skill with the sales figures to back it up. “This means that companies are prepared to offer more to get more,” Hulley said. But the dreaded shortage of skills in the market is also once again revealing itself. Growing business in the freight sector has justified Communicate Personnel expanding its activities out of the Durban home office to open a branch in Johannesburg, with another in Cape Town on the way.
