As 2010 winds to a close, what’s the mood of recruiters? What are their thoughts about the industry in 2011? How optimistic—or pessimistic—are they about how they’ll fare during the next 12 months?
Well, to get the answers to these questions… we asked them. More specifically, we conducted a poll of the Top Echelon Network Membership, asking them the following question:
Which statement below best describes your thoughts regarding the economy?
Results:
The choice of answers that we provided is listed below, along with the percentage of recruiters that selected each one:
- There’s nothing to worry about. — 9.5%
- Who cares, as long as the job orders are flowing. — 22.1%
- Central banking policies worldwide concern me. — 18.9%
- There might be a recession sometime this year. — 41.1%
- I don’t pay attention to the economy. — 8.4%
Summary:
The results of the poll indicate that the majority of recruiters are optimistic about the upcoming year. In fact, 21% of respondents stated they were “very optimistic,” while another 57% voted in favor of “cautiously optimistic.” Another 14% were “decidedly neutral. That means that the remaining 8% were either “a little pessimistic” or “very pessimistic.”
To have approximately 92 out of 100 recruiters indicate that they’re either “very optimistic,” “cautiously optimistic,” or “decidedly neutral” about the future is a far cry from where we were 18 months or a year ago. As long and as drawn-out as this economic recovery has been, it appears as though it’s finally gaining momentum and recruiters are seeing the proverbial “light at the end of the tunnel.”
Analysis and Conclusion:
After all, recruiters’ moods and opinions about the future of the industry are, by and large, tied to their clients’ attitudes about hiring and their willingness to add headcount. Companies have had a need to hire for quite some time. Unfortunately, their willingness to do so has not matched their need. In short, they’ve been running their current employees ragged until they had more confidence in the recovery.
It appears as though, as we escort 2010 to the door, companies now have the confidence to hire the personnel they’ve needed to hire for quite some time, and that confidence has translated into heightened levels of optimism for recruiters.
What are your thoughts about 2011? Which of the choices listed above would you select? Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the next 12 months and why? Do your clients seem more willing to hire now than they were at the end of 2009?
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