Supported by the NI Skills Task Force, the survey tracks executive recruitment in The Belfast Telegraph's Jobfinder. WHAT a difference a year makes or, rather, what a difference three months can make. When we last reported on the Skills Task Force Skills Watch Survey in February, the pattern of demand for management skills appeared strong. The figures for the year 2000 finished off as they had started with uninterrupted quarterly growth in the number of executive positions advertised in The Belfast Telegraph's Jobfinder. The first quarter to March 2001 suggests a change in the trend.
Closer inspection highlights the winners and losers.
Computer and related activities surprisingly show a seasonal uplift, but it is probably too early to say yet whether this reflects some robustness in local companies or that the global downturn has still to bite. In contrast, food manufacturing and construction are down on the year 2000 levels. The construction sector is, coincidentally, highlighted for particular review this quarter, and the comments from key players in the sector suggest demand for executive positions remains strong. Interestingly, nearly all of the seasonal decline is accounted for by other professional occupations, consisting of legal, business and financial professionals, architects and so on. So we will have to wait and see what the second quarter of 2001 has in store.