Employment Market Shake-up.

I’m an optimist.  Can’t help it.  It’s part of my make-up.  I don’t hold a high regard on always being happy, though.  I reckon you need bad times to challenge your strength, just like the immune system needs the odd germ to strengthen it.

There is a fair amount of talk at present about the state of global financial health.  Most of it’s pretty dire.   As a result, companies are getting nervous about their economic well-being.  Staff are lying low and getting on with the job.  There are lots of stats, not facts.  I’m going to regurgitate a few, and would ask that you decide of your own reading of them.  I’ll give you my opinion at the end.  But as I warned you…I’m an optimist:

According to Seek.com.au the Australian employment market has eased further in October.

Despite much speculation however, there were no signs of an abrupt response to the deepening global financial crisis that might signify a developing recession.

Nationally the SEEK Employment Index (SEI), which measures the ratio of new job ads on seek.com.au to job applications via the site, fell by 4% in seasonally adjusted terms, suggesting jobseekers may have witnessed increased competition for fewer available jobs.

However, despite the global financial crisis deepening, this rate was consistent with the average rate of decline seen since December 2007 (4.5%).

However, Seek Ltd themselves have downgraded their forecast for profit growth to zero. Net profit after tax, which last year saw a 37.4% rise to $76.3 million, is now forecast to be flat.

News Corp has flagged job cuts, after reporting a 29.6 per cent drop in first quarter profit and it’s likely that Fairfax is also felling the pinch…

So what does this all mean for the online recruitment market.  Here’s what I reckon…Seek will have to make some changes they might not otherwise have considered.  Strategies must change, even if a little.  Will this open up opportunities for niche job boards to gain a foothold in the market?   Possibly.  And if this happens, what a great opportunity is a recession (no Keating comparisons, please).

Point is, sometimes nothing beats a good old dose of the flu.

Get a Job, Gen Y!

Way back in 1999, Business Week proffered some sage advice. It told its readers this:

“The marketers that capture Generation Y’s attention do so by bringing their messages to the places these kids congregate, whether it’s the internet, a snowboarding tournament or cable TV.”

It seems that finally, after all this time, some folks in recruitment are taking on board the advice.Speaking of Gen Y’s, remember when News Corporation purchased the in social networking site MySpace and made some Gen Y’s very rich? CareerOne, also part of News, has now officially integrated its job search into MySpace.I’m sure you’ll agree that the page looks great. And I’m a bigger supporter than anyone of the growing need for businesses of all descriptions to use the internet as their primary marketing tool. However, there is a glaring problem with the way the team at CareerOne has executed this innovative marketing plan.Consider for the moment that you’re a 20-something gen-yer, ipod eared and determined not to take a 9 to 5 job, but aware that your parents are getting narky about your not paying board…food…your own toiletries…I’ll stop now, before I sound like a moaning Babyboomer.Anyway, you’re on MySpace, checking out your own profile, and think that you might start your job search. You type in “jobs”and search myspace. I’m pretty certain that the crew at CareerOne would like it if that particular search produced their page. Instead, this is what our Gen-yer would get:Sure, there’s a link to MySpaceJobs on the homepage, but guys, let’s face it, the only people who enter MySpace through the homepage are the Boomers and Gen-xers who go in posing as 25-year-olds!Point is and this one extends across the board in internet marketing, when you’re sitting in your board rooms, guys, when you’re huddled over your copies of the latest McKinsey propaganda, have a think about how users approach their search and make yourself available within the spaces where you want to advertise. Marketing 101.