War not over - nature of conflict has changed

21-Jan-2009

I read Morgan McKinley’s comments concluding the war for talent is over (‘New job vacancies in the City fall further’, recruiter.co.uk, 14 January), with interest.

We would argue it’s not so much that the war has ended, rather that the nature of the conflict has changed. While it’s true there are many more applicants than jobs, this volume doesn’t necessarily equate to a wider talent pool full of required skills. Current market conditions actually make recruiting for the right talent more difficult — not less.

There’s a huge amount of jobseeker caution and a feeling of ‘better the devil you know’. Some of the very best people with niche skills, that you’d normally expect to move around the marketplace, are staying put. The challenge for recruitment firms, and companies alike, is how to attract these applications for specific roles.

This year is going to be defined by a fight to secure pockets of talent for bursts of hard to fill vacancies through innovative sourcing methods. In other words, guerrilla warfare.

• Tom Forrest, associate director, Joslin Rowe Temporaries