Hiring sentiment in financial services slumps
The financial services industry has posted a 9.6 percentage point drop in hiring sentiment for the April-to-June period, according to the results from Hudson's latest 'Employment Expectations' report.
Mark Steyn, chief executive of Hudson Asia Pacific, said Australian employers remained "somewhat more cautious following economic data and news of job cuts in some industries during the first quarter, particularly the financial services and manufacturing sectors".
The decline in employer sentiment in the financial services sector specifically was spurred on by planned job cuts at two major banks, the report stated.
On the whole, most Australian employers remain optimistic, with Hudson's February survey revealing a 3.3 percentage point rise in the number of employers planning to keep headcount steady (57.3 per cent).
"Most employers still plan to either hire new staff or keep their workforce steady while they wait for more clarity around the economy," Steyn said.
According to Steyn, this "wait and see" approach could be detrimental to employers looking to move "quickly to indentify and secure the best candidates", many of whom are confident enough to test the market and seek out more attractive opportunities and pay packets than they might currently be offered.
"Organisations should focus their priorities on strategic roles that help take an organisation forward and the 'critical' and 'core' roles that keep the organisation functioning on a day-to-day basis," Hudson's survey said.
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