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The vast majority of businesses are reportedly planning to maintain or increase staff counts throughout 2024.
According to recruitment agency Robert Half, 95 per cent of employers intend to maintain or increase permanent positions in 2024, while 91 per cent will do the same with contract positions.
Hiring intentions have clearly picked up from last year, when just 75 per cent of employers intended to keep or increase permanent headcount and 63 per cent planned to maintain contract positions.
Nicole Gorton, director at Robert Half, said that Australian businesses started the year with a clear intention to staff up and make the most of opportunities to grow the business in 2024.
“Australian businesses are looking to bounce back from a tumultuous 2023. While some businesses in more affected industries have stalled hiring, the majority are now looking to make strategic hires – by backfilling vacant roles or selectively interviewing highly skilled candidates aligned to strategic business objectives or to expand their teams,” she said.
“While the country’s economy and hiring market will continue to shift, we’re coming off an incredibly elevated hiring period so jobseekers should continue to search with confidence but perhaps with less bargaining power than they would’ve had a couple of years ago,” Ms Gorton added.
In real estate, which was recently revealed to have a high staff turnover rate of close to 25 per cent, hiring runs the risk of sucking up a substantial amount of company resources in 2024, even if agencies are only looking to maintain headcount.
Domonic Thompson, national head of real estate at Macquarie Business Banking, who reported on industry turnover in its 2023 Real Estate Benchmarking Report, noted that hiring stands to be one of the most vital tasks for agencies in the year ahead.
“With one in four people changing roles over the past 12 months, coupled with increased wages and operating costs, the industry is at a critical point where agencies need to address staff challenges by building trust and respect. Getting the people and culture balance can help differentiate an agency, drive better financial outcomes and enhance business value,” Mr Thompson said.
It’s clearly an issue that’s on the mind of the industry, with tech firm MRI recently reporting in its annual Real Estate Leaders’ Outlook that talent acquisition and retention is the second biggest issue on industry executives’ minds this year, after revenue concerns.
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