Posts by Ross Clennett
Meaningful work: The importance of reflection
Recruitment is not hard physical work but it is hard emotional work. The memories of my first few months at Accountancy Personnel (now Hays) in London, as I learned the job and attempted to make enough placements in order to keep my job, are seared into my memory, never to be erased. It would be…
Read MoreRecruiters only fill 15% of Australia’s jobs – there’s another 85% available!
A couple of years ago the Federal Government commissioned professional services firm, KPMG to examine and report on the differences in practices between the Australian commercial recruitment sector and the government-funded recruitment sector (jobactive) to see what can be learned. The report, The Australian Recruitment Industry: A comparison of service delivery, was provided to the…
Read MoreGovernment excludes most of the industry with its bone-headed 457 visa changes
After initially looking like recruitment consultants would be removed from the Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL) it was announced, two weeks ago, that Recruitment Consultants will remain on STSOL but with a significantly increased income threshold of $90,000 and only available to agencies with a minimum $1 million p.a. turnover and at least 5 employees.…
Read MoreSeek change course with Onploy as UK recruitment start-ups boom
Last week two pieces of news caught my attention that suggested that the recruitment industry is ending 2017 in pretty good shape. Firstly, SEEK announced that it was withdrawing Onploy from the retail industry candidate market to focus on the IT candidate market. Industry news service, ShortList, reported “(Onploy) Co-founder Jack Hoi told Shortlist that its software engineering…
Read MoreRobert van Stokrom: The (recently ex) RCSA President reflects
Two weeks ago Robert van Stokrom stepped down having completed four years as President of the RCSA (Australia & NZ) and a further six years as a board member. I managed to gain a short window of Robert’s time to put a few questions to him about this time as RCSA President and a few…
Read MoreThe man, as a leader of women, the recruitment industry can be proud of
This week we have seen the full local impact of last month’s Harvey Weinstein expose. The combined Fairfax Media/ABC investigative resources were marshalled in service of Tracey Spicer’s tweet of 18 October: As you can see, the tweet generated an immediate and overwhelming response that quickly elevated Don Burke’s name to the top of her list…
Read MoreThe future of recruitment, according to Hays (and how to beat them)
This month is the ten year anniversary since Denis Waxman, the legendary Global CEO of Hays, left the building with his place having been taken by Alistair Cox, an experienced chief executive from outside the recruitment industry. This was potentially a risky move but ten years on, the decision to appoint Cox can be viewed as a…
Read More500th issue of InSight: How do I make Seek redundant?
Ten years and six weeks ago I published the first issue of my newsletter, InSight. In it I articulated my thoughts on the RCSA Conference that I had just attended. Seventeen subscribers received that first newsletter. Today is the 500th issue of InSight and I am, as far as I can tell, the longest, continually published recruitment-specific…
Read MoreHays hiring surge: ANZ division grows by 65 consultants in past quarter
The confidence that Hays Australia/NZ has in the market conditions, continuing their strong run, is amply demonstrated in their September quarter recruiter hiring surge as detailed in the Hays Q1 Trading Update. Hays reported “Consultant headcount in Australia & New Zealand was up 7% in the quarter”.According to my (Hays do not release actual consultant or employee numbers in Australia, only…
Read MoreGlobal 2016-17 results: Hays is an awesome cash machine
My recent review of recruitment company data confirms that London-based Hays plc continues to demonstrate an outstanding record of financial performance, setting a benchmark for financial management that many companies aspire to. Hays’ headline results from the most recent financial year, 1 July 2016 – 30 June 2017, shows how much progress has been made over the…
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