Robert Walters Australia Secretarial & Business Support Market Update Q2 2011

Watch our video for current support & admin job market trends, or visit www.robertwalters.com.au to search for jobs.

In this video Market Update from recruitment consultancy Robert Walters, our Director of Secretarial & Business Support Recruitment, Erica Lindberg, provides an overview of secretarial & business support job market trends in Australia in quarter two, and tips on what will happen in the job market in quarter three. A full transcript of the video is available below.

Overview of Q2
We saw increased hiring of secretarial and business support staff in Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney in quarter two, largely due to financial year end requirements and returning market confidence. In contrast, we saw mixed levels of hiring in Melbourne and Perth, as some industries remained cautious with their recruitment activity or postponed hiring until the new financial year.

Sectors hiring
The commerce sector saw the highest levels of hiring in Sydney in quarter two. This was mostly due to the property market picking up. Retail banking and professional services organisations also hired strongly to support financial year end requirements.

In the Brisbane market, we saw high levels of hiring within the oil and gas, mining and EPCM sector to support the major projects underway in the region. The banking and financial services sector also increased their demand for secretarial and business support staff as they continued to recover from the market downturn.

Professionals in demand
In quarter two we saw high demand for junior administrators and personal assistants, due to organisations requiring additional administration support as a result of increased hiring of professional staff.

In Sydney, employers were also looking for 'hybrid' professionals who could cover a range of functions for human resources, marketing and administration. Customer service representatives were also highly sought-after in Adelaide and Brisbane.

Salaries
Salaries increased across the board in the Brisbane market in quarter two, as demand peaked and the pool of candidates became smaller. In particular, the professionals who were most in demand could command the highest premiums, as employers were willing to pay to secure the best candidates. Across other markets, salaries remained relatively stable.

Outlook for Q3
We're expecting hiring of secretarial and business support staff to increase across all regions in quarter three, as the new financial year brings new budgets and headcount approval. Team assistants, PAs, EAs, document controllers and project administrators will be most highly sought-after.

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