THE CREDIT CRISIS AND THE DUTCH ECONOMY 2009-2010
The credit crisis has plunged the world economy into the deepest recession since World War II. In the second half of 2008, the credit crisis touched the Netherlands. The number of job vacancies, however, is still high and the average purchasing power rising with relative strength. It is sure to say that 2009 will not be experienced as a crisis year by everyone.
The current recession is of an entirely different nature from the one at the beginning of the 80’s. Low profits and lack of incentives were the key problems at that time. Now we are dealing with speculative bubbles resulting from a surplus of savings on the one hand, and poor regulation and supervision on banking systems, which failed to keep pace with financial innovation, on the other. This combination of macro and microeconomic factors led to the current crisis. The crisis could have substantial long-term effects on the level of prosperity.
How can investment into new human talent maintain a company’s competitive advantage?
HIGHLY SKILLED ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE PROFESSIONALS
While the job market has become more competitive in a number of fields, demand for highly skilled accounting and finance professionals with the right mix of talent and experience is holding steady. Accounting and finance are core business functions vital to an organization’s success in any economy. For many key positions, employers are experiencing difficulty finding qualified job candidates and also are concerned about retaining their top performers.
Experienced financial staff is needed worldwide to support initiatives related to general accounting needs, growth initiatives and compliance. Firms seeking to improve the management of company resources are placing a premium on job applicants with proven success identifying cost efficiencies and controlling expenses
Talent shortage: • 56% of employers reported difficulty finding skilled staff, unchanged from the 2007 report. 31% reported not having difficulty.*
In addition to recruitment challenges, keeping existing top-performing financial professionals on board is an increasingly worrisome issue.
Staff retention: • 58% of employers are concerned or very concerned about retaining top performers, compared to 43% in 2007.*
Regarding financial staffing challenges, companies are increasing their reliance on temporary or project professionals.
Flexible staffing: • 31% of employers are currently employing interim professionals reported increasing their use in the last three years.*
* Figures taken from Antal International’s Global Snapshot
THE COST OF RECRUITMENT
Many organizations are focused on short term cost savings and miss out on being exposed to those individuals who can make them competitive.
If you want access to the entire labour pool rather than just the best of who is looking, then companies should think about paying the fees for professionals to segment the market to seek out those high caliber individuals. These individuals are unlikely to be actively looking for a new opportunity and need to be carefully enticed away by a third party who has the skills to do this.
It is essential that if you want to recruit an inactive candidate, i.e one who is not actively looking for career moves, that the benefits of working for your company are sold against the aspirations of that particular individual. Where the succession planning and growth opportunities are and how they are expected to have an impact on the future of the business.
The cost of such hire must be weighted against the cost of hiring an inappropriate individual who may not add the value you desire or put your organization in a position to compete.
Ana Garcia
Team Leader Finance & Banking
Antal International BV
Tel: +31 (0) 20 751 61 00
Fax: +31 (0) 20 751 61 02
@: AGarcia@antal.com
Web: http://www.antal.com
