Recruitment

Photo credit: Hays plc 2006 Annual Report Denis Waxman, the legendary founder of the business that offered me my first permanent job and ultimately evolved into the sixth-largest staffing company in the world, Hays, passed away on 22 August 2025 at the age of 78, from heart disease. Hays CEO, Dirk Hahn, released a statement…

As it was at SHAPE 2022, with the creator of  You Can’t Ask That, Kirk Docker it was a television professional who took us back to the fundamentals of our job at SHAPE 2025. Closing the program on day one this year was ABC presenter and journalist, Leigh Sales, one of Australia’s most respected media…

Ephram’s back! Yes, the man whose comebacks rival those of John Farnham has returned to public life. Former Collar Group founder and CEO, Ephram Stephenson, announced his comeback via his first LinkedIn post since November 2024, late on Friday afternoon. Stephenson’s updated LinkedIn profile features a now-bearded Stephenson, looking very yacht rock with that detached,…

Last night at The Langham in Melbourne, the culmination of many months of organising and fundraising came to a brilliant conclusion with the announcement of $3.5 million as the 2025 donation from The Mother’s Day Classic Foundation to fund life-saving breast and ovarian cancer research, up $200k on the 2024 donation. Of this total amount, $2.13…

Early last year I went to a pool (not my local pool) and had my first experience of being considered an ‘older Australian’. At the entrance, the customer service officer, probably no more than 19, said, “Do you have a seniors card?” Of course, he was helping me to avail myself of discounted admission if…

Do you notice how often the phrase “million-dollar biller” is bandied about in the recruitment industry? I know I do. Whether it’s a LinkedIn post, a podcast episode, a trainer pitching their services as one (or promoting themselves on LinkedIn as one), a webinar revealing insights into building a million dollar desk or a training…

The recent labour market data has given the recruitment industry plenty to be concerned about. If the July results, released on 14 August, follow the trend of May and June, then there would be serious doubts that the 2026 financial year will deliver better news for agency owners and leaders, bruised by the underwhelming 2024…

This year’s winner of the RCSA Recruitment Leader award (Australia), Danielle Johnson, (photo: centre, in white) learned about hard work from a very early age. Raised in the southwestern suburbs of Sydney, Danielle joined the workforce shortly after turning 15. While balancing work at a training and apprenticeship company with study for her business administration…

I am in shock, and the local recruitment industry is in shock. The family of Robert van Stokrom, FRCSA (Life), announced his passing on Monday, at the age of 71, via a Facebook update the following day. Rob was a hugely influential figure in the Australian recruitment industry as a business owner and former President…

Earlier this week, Nine Entertainment, owner of the Nine Network, ran a 60 Minutes report followed by a similar piece in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald about the behavior of Sydney-based hospitality giant, Merivale’s, toward its staff. The stories included alleged misconduct towards vulnerable workers, including a number of chefs who were recruited…