September will 'break records' for hiring in the channel, according to recruitment boss
Robertson Sumner's CEO Marc Sumner says job vacancies and applications doubled compared with August
September will break records for the number of vacancies, applications and hires in the channel as candidates put the uncertainty of COVID-19 behind them, according to the head of IT recruitment firm Robertson Sumner.
Marc Sumner said the firm has seen the highest number of vacancies in the IT channel in its 20-year history this month, with record numbers of people applying and getting jobs.
Speaking to CRN back in April this year, Sumner revealed that vacancies had hit their highest levels in 18 months and said the rate of jobs being advertised in the channel has continued to grow since then but "spiked" this month, with the number of vacancies and applicants doubling compared with August.
"It's gone absolutely crazy. Every company is looking and they're not looking for one person, they're looking for multiple people," Sumner said.
"Now the kids are back to school and there's been a lot of reflection over the summer, there's a lot of people who were maybe tentative about the market and were worried about COVID thinking ‘should I be looking?' and ‘I'm not sure about changing jobs'."
"There was a lot of nervousness in the market and obviously there were people that needed to get jobs because they hadn't got jobs and all that sort of stuff. But the people that were reasonably happy in their jobs didn't do anything.
"But I think now that summer's over and they've had a break and reflected with their loved ones, they think ‘you know what, I don't want to work for this company anymore'. All those candidates have now come into the market."
Sumner identified sales and marketing as two areas of focus for channel firms looking to hire, as well technical staff for roles such as coding and help desk.
But despite the number of candidates coming into the channel, Sumner said there are still shortages of talent because of the high number of jobs available.
"While it's great that there's record numbers of people and we're placing record numbers of candidates, we're still not finding enough people," he explained.
"The amount of vacancies is outperforming the amount of applicants coming into the market but all of them currently are doubling.
"Channel businesses need to be much more open in terms of the backgrounds they're looking for. We can't find experienced recruiters so we're going to have to train our own, and other channel firms are going to have to do the same if they want to fill the vacancies. If not, they'll just have a time lag."
While predicting that there could be a slight dip in hiring and vacancy numbers around December time, Sumner believes the start of 2022 will surpass September as the busiest period for hiring in the channel's history.
"2022 is going to be a bonanza year for most channel firms," he added.
"Numbers have risen month on month, but September has just spiked and I think we'll continue to see that.
"We may have a lull as December is a bit of a time for reflection again but I think Q1 2022 will be the busiest month in terms of hiring numbers for all channel firms in the channel's history."