Episode 1: April 2023 Market Insights with Kayla Hoye

Kayla Hoye recently joined the etonHR team as a Director. Kayla brings a wealth of knoweldge, experience and vibrance to the team, along with some exceptional market insights which she iwill hare monthly.

April 2023: Market Insights by Kayla Hoye

We are currently sitting at just over 1500 HR vacancies across Sydney for the month of March. 

It’s worth noting that just over 50% of these vacancies sit within the mid – senior space and around 6% sit at the Director and Executive level.

In terms of trends, the ‘Future of Work’ is a hot topic and rightly so. In talking to HR leaders, we are seeing them aim to balance current skillsets versus future automation and a focus on talent versus mobility. Many HR leaders are working to increase capability in their already lean teams – and so redeploying and reskilling people has become key in a time when cost constraints are a reality for many businesses.

The major changes to Australia’s workplace relations laws have had ER/IR in the spotlight. HR and business leaders across the board, are heavily relying on this niche in an effort to navigate through the changes and keep businesses compliant. Consequently, ER/IR talent across the mid-executive level are in high demand in the current market.
We are seeing ER opportunities significantly under-market in terms of REM on offer versus the capability and expertise that is needed. My advice here is to speak to specialists in the market to benchmark your role and the REM before going out to market in an effort to ensure it’s pitched at the right level.

“We are currently sitting at just over 1500 HR vacancies across Sydney for the month of March. That is a 15% increase on last month and an 18% increase YOY.”

We are also seeing resistance in the battle of hybrid work and what that looks like for businesses versus talent. Flexibility and hybrid working arrangements are a key topic in talking to HR talent who are exploring new opportunities. While we are seeing days in the office increasingly mandated, I’d encourage businesses and leaders to remember that hybrid work is a key driver to attracting or retaining top HR talent in the current market.

In terms of talent attraction, I mentioned at the back end of last year that we would see a talent market that would focus on job security, values-based leaders and competitive remuneration packages – and this is absolutely the case. It’s worth noting that this current market has similarities to the talent tight market that we were in circa COVID around 2 years ago. HR talent are now much more purposeful about their moves and take interest in opportunities and leaders that align to their values and purpose. Those who are no longer aligned with their current role or company, are ready to move.

While the TA space has been hit hard over the past few months, the TA space will forever be one of peaks and troughs. If we learned anything from COVID, my advice would be to look at options for redeploying your TA talent over cutting headcount where you can – good TA talent is not always easy to find and the market will turn again as it inevitably does.

As always, please reach out if you’d like support in recruiting for your team, additional market intel or you’re looking to make a move – we’d love to partner with you.