Most company secretaries and governance professionals, most of whom are still in work, are likely to be more hesitant to move in a time of uncertainty
According to the ONS (September 2020), in August the number of employees on payrolls in the UK was down by c695,000 compared with March 2020. The unemployment rate has also risen to 4.1%, while the number of people claiming benefits has risen by 120% between March and August!
Looking at the data, redundancies are predominantly affecting young and/or lesser-skilled workers, largely in front-line service industry roles in retail, hospitality and travel and leisure sectors, which have been particularly hard-hit by lockdown and quarantine restrictions.
It appears that a two-tier labour market is beginning to form, where blue-collar workers are readily available, but skilled workers with specialist knowledge are hard to find. Therefore, organisations looking to recruit within their company secretarial and governance functions might still struggle to find the right talent at the right time. According to The Core Partnership’s latest market report, only less than 3% of company secretaries and governance professionals had been furloughed (when the data was collected), compared to the overall national figure of 27% (ONS, April 2020).
Therefore, most company secretaries and governance professionals, most of whom are still in work, are likely to be more hesitant to move in a time of uncertainty. This, coupled with the fact that the best employees are valued and retained by employers, means that the talent shortage within this market is very much still apparent when companies come to recruit.
As the market is still candidate-led, employers should re-evaluate their offering when looking to fill positions in this area, including the remuneration package they offer as well as other perks, but especially their flexible working policy which - having proved they can work as well from home or flexibly - is the top requirement for many candidates who are considering a move.
This is a time when using the services of The Core Partnership can make all the difference when seeking to recruit. Unlike other recruiters in our sector, we did not furlough any of our staff which means that we are fully connected to the current market, able to find the ‘hard to reach’ candidates and know what makes them tick. With seven dedicated recruitment partners, we take the time to listen to our clients’ requirements and get to know their organisation and its culture, so we can present each opportunity for its own merits and secure the best candidates for the role.
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Mariza Dimaki is a Recruitment Partner at The Core Partnership, who are specialists in the recruitment of Company Secretaries, Governance and Compliance people. The team provides market advice on relevant qualifications and experience, conducts salary and benchmarking exercises and works throughout the UK and overseas recruiting at all levels to this specific discipline. |
If you need a flexible interim or permanent resource, advice on managing a virtual or hybrid recruitment campaign, benchmarking, or would like to have a confidential discussion about your own job search, then please reach out to a member of the team on 020 3589 0333.
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