In Week 13, we decided to share our collected market signals that we usually keep to ourselves. But these are not usual times…
This week, we summarized weeks 15 to 19 and took a closer look at the changes in the number of job ads on LinkedIn in the 36 countries we have been observing. It turned out that 7 European countries reacted with a delay compared to the other ones. We also noticed that 8 countries experienced a surprising shift in their tendencies in week 17 (mid-April!). Certain countries have been experiencing a constant decrease since the beginning of week 15 and others, well – they just form funny shapes :)
This is not a full version of this week’s report. View the complete presentation here:
We’ve also continued reaching out to CEOs, HR Directors, investors, board members, that we know personally, to take the temperature. Below you’ll find their shortened quotes in no particular order.
However, we’ll start with a KPI that gives a quite good feel of the overall trend on the job market:
Number of published job ads on LinkedIn
Note: some job ads might have been taken off LinkedIn, not because the recruitment process was put on hold or canceled, but because they are costly, especially if you have dozens of them. A company might have wanted to simply cut costs and move to more cost effective alternatives. Some local job portals are offering substantial discounts.
| Initial list of 18 countries | Sorted |
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| Extended list to 36 countries | Sorted |
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| Weekly change in % by region | |
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Note: the numbers are collected at the beginning of each week, on Monday afternoon. The regions are divided into: Visegrad, Baltics, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Iberia, SEE, BENELUX, DACH, Western Europe and EU.
Collected Quotes from CEOs and HR Directors
The vast majority of executives are with market leaders in their respective industries. By default, the board members are members of local boards; if not, we’ll indicate the exception.
Pharma: As I am building a new organization, I’m actually hiring. Our industry has not yet been dramatically affected.
Computer software: Our company is unfortunately freezing budgets and cutting costs, but it’s relatively OK. There were a couple of difficult moments, but our senior leadership is competent and we managed. And, as a company, we have decided to keep working remotely even after the pandemic!
Plastics: Our Russian management has decided to reduce the Polish team by 50%. They might even close the entire office despite exceeding all targets.
Medical technology: Our company’s situation is very unstable and we’re laying off.
Publishing: We’re going under.
Air Fright Delivery: The aviation industry has obviously been heavily affected by the pandemic, but shipping is in a better condition.
Energy: Due to our last year’s financial troubles we are in the middle of restructuring at the moment.
Automotive manufacturing: We are OK.
Logistics: As the clients’ behavior has drastically changed globally and the consumption is decreasing we are sure that the crisis will hit us but no lay-offs at the moment. We’re even hiring. The whole situation is probably going to speed up the development of our industry – especially safe home delivery.
Banking: No lay-offs, but all recruitment processes have been canceled or put on hold. No new ones are planned.
And candidate quotes:
General Manager: Headhunters are informing me that their recruitment processes are on hold. I’ll continue applying directly and already have an interview next week.
Office Manager: I was laid off at the beginning of March. As companies are probably going to give up physical offices, I am planning to make a shift toward change or lean management.
Regional Project Manager: I was invited to join a recruitment process for a managerial position. 4 weeks later the employer updated the job ad: same responsibilities but lower pay grade. Given current circumstances, I had no choice, but to accept.
Our recommendations for experienced managers and executives:
- Keep engaging in recruitment processes. You don’t know if your job is indeed safe. Better to have a Plan B. It’s always better to be able to choose from a couple of options while you have a job rather than wake up with no job and have no options.
- If you have restructuring / change management / interim experience, prepare your project list or list of business cases.
- Prepare and practice interviewing online:
- from a technical perspective
- from a light & background perspective
- from a communication perspective
- Work on your communication skills: on paper (CV) and orally (strategic interviewing). Charisma alone will not get you shortlisted against hundreds of candidates; especially now that companies will look for low-risk candidates who can demonstrate very specific skill sets and leadership competencies.
If you want to discuss your professional situation confidentially or if you are considering hiring Career Angels for support, contact Bichl.Sandra@CareerAngels.eu who will personally match you with the most appropriate consultant. For efficiency, add your CV and availability for a Skype call.
If you want to contribute, email your signals to Sandra (everything will be kept confidential).
Market Signals published thus far:
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Week 17
Week 18
Week 19
Week 20
Week 21
Week 22
