Welcome to the new financial year!
The last quarter at NDR has been a busy one with an increased number of contract and permanent placements made within manufacturing clients across Australia. This has included successfully fulfilling hard to fill role types in both metropolitan and regional locations. Some examples of candidates we’ve successfully placed recently include Mechanical Engineers, Mechanical Designers, Project Engineers, Production Managers and Operations Managers.
Our blue-collar labour hire division has also seen significant growth in the last quarter where we have sourced a number of skilled contractors such as Boilermakers, CNC Machinists, Fitters and Production Operators for manufacturing and engineering clients, mainly in NSW.
One of the key highlights for our team last quarter was the continued increase in face to face to site visits across Sydney, Central Coast, Newcastle, Brisbane, Perth and regional NSW and QLD. This is something we have tried to drive as it’s easy to default to online meetings. We know this is the best way to understand new clients better and continue to build relationships with our existing clients and contractors. With that in mind, expect to see an NDR high viz vest at a plant near you soon!
At a high level across the manufacturing sector there are some indicators of activity slowing. One recent source that showed this trend was The Judo Bank Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI). Whilst these types of indicators are useful to keep an eye on, we’re not hearing any sentiment across our client base that indicates a high level of nervousness or the intention to scale back for the remainder of 2023 or beyond.
One of the major sectors we support is materials handling and this remains very buoyant. We are regularly seeing continued investment in major projects within mining, manufacturing and transport. These projects typically include significant mechanical infrastructure and cutting edge automation. Companies are continuing to increase productivity and safety whilst trying to reduce long-term operating costs. With inflation and supply chain costs increasing, companies will clearly be forced to continue focusing on internal efficiencies to remain competitive.
Securing capital to invest in innovation and the lack of quality talent within manufacturing and engineering remain the two greatest challenges our clients face. On the talent side, we are seeing low level applications to adverts continue and are working with our clients to proactively build talent pools of candidates to approach. Salary is becoming a driver of change even for those candidates who are relatively happy in their current role. This is simply down to rising living costs and families trying to stay afloat. So, we encourage all employers to remain competitive to ensure you keep your best people.
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At NDR we partner with a number of national and local manufacturing and engineering companies who are based in regional Australia. We think we’re well positioned to provide some insights into what’s happening in terms of regional talent and are acutely aware just how challenging some regional roles are to fulfill.
We also regularly promote regional opportunities to candidates who are often quick to dismiss and make the assumption a move to the tropics or the mountains would be a bad career move. Whilst there will always be companies and roles that can’t offer development and career growth or those candidates who simply can’t move from the city due to family etc, we highly recommend not being so quick to make that call.
Some recent trends and factors we’d suggest keeping in mind as follows:
1. Manufacturing and engineering projects on a big scale - we are continually surprised by the plants we come across on our travels. There are genuinely major players in some centres who can offer challenging work and long-term stability. In many cases, there are multiple large employers in one town which removes the risk of up-rooting your life just for the job.
2. Salary and benefits increase to more closely match those in major cities - given the high demand for skills, a majority of regional employers are now conscious they need to get close to or in some cases above city salary levels. When other living costs such as property and fuel decrease, this can make quite an impact to a families bottom line.
3. Greater flexibility and leave to remain connected - we’ve seen a whole lot of initiatives around this in the regions, but some examples include 4 day work weeks, more RDO’s and additional annual leave. When attracting new employees from further afield, we’re seeing employers recognise that those people need more leave to remain connected with their family and friends network. Or maybe it’s additional leave to enjoy more MTB, 4WD, fishing, hunting or whatever motivated the move in the first place.
4. Work/life and family balance - this is typically the big driver as to why someone moves regionally and is likely to only increase now traffic congestion is back in full swing in the big cities. Working closer to home, but also having sports and other activities that keep the family together right on your doorstep are priceless! The ability to own and store toys like boats, motorbikes and other sporting equipment is also easier out of the city.
5. Get ahead in the property market - we’re not property experts, but if you are looking to reduce your rent or mortgage and also want the opportunity for capital gains down the track, then we don’t think you can go wrong with a regional move. Given there are significantly lower house prices in most parts of regional Australia, it can also be a great way for a first-home buyer to break-in.
6. Is there something for everyone? By this we mean if you are moving with a partner and/or children, then what’s in it for them? With all of what Australia has to offer, this won’t be hard, but we would encourage candidates to narrow down their choices to 2 or 3 regional locations and then explore the work opportunities. If you can, take a drive or two, go and explore, check out some properties and get everyone invested!
We hope the above is food for thought and might resonate with some people.
If you’re open to a sea or tree change or if you’re looking for your next career move in the big city, then contact our team today to see whether we can help you.
If you're an employer wanting more employment market insights, accurate wage and salary data or support with hiring top talent, then we’d also be keen to hear from you.
Call us today on 02 9090 4407
For all of our latest contract or permanent job opportunities, please visit https://www.nextdayrecruitment.com.au/find-a-job
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