SYDNEY MARKET UPDATE - FEBRUARY 2010

“Isn’t 2009 over yet?” This was the sentiment shared by many of our clients and candidates in discussions over the last few months of last year. Most people will agree that 2009 was a year of ups and downs and hopefully 2010 will provide the industry with more stability and more opportunities for everybody.

December saw a slow down in the number of new positions available which is a result of the traditional Christmas / end of year ‘slow down’. Certainly the number of contract positions decreased sharply as we entered the festive season.

Overall, the construction industry in NSW experienced a decline in the last month after two positive months prior to that. The main reason for this decline was seen to be the RBA’s decision to increase Interest Rates. The outlook for 2010 is definitely positive but with a definite realisation that things may take some time to pick up again to levels of employment seen in early 2008.

Understandably companies will continue to be cautious in the recruitment of new staff. This is likely to shift towards more permanent opportunities as firms look to replace staff or indeed ‘up-skill’ their existing teams.

Architecture:
The Sydney Architectural Market has shown some signs of consolidation as the financial and property markets have experienced a period of growth. This has led to more opportunities for practices in areas away from the stimulus driven Educational and Social Housing markets.

The stimulus certainly provided the industry with the shot in the arm it needed during the middle of 2009, creating a number of 3-6 month contract positions for Architects, Graduates and CAD Technicians alike. The present concern for the practices that are involved with the stimulus work is whether they are going to be able to generate enough work elsewhere to keep these ‘contractors’ going into 2010.

Away from the stimulus, the sentiment amongst practices is certainly more positive into 2010; certainly compared to twelve months ago. Practices seem to have more ‘potential’ work in the pipeline and right across the board in respect to sectors. We have seen that a number of firms have started to think about strategically appointing high quality candidates, with particular skills and experience. Healthcare, Education, Aged Care and Infrastructure are all areas that are currently being targeted and we believe will continue to do so the year.

Interior Design:
The Interior Design market continues to be driven by the commercial sector that has remained relatively busy. There have been ongoing opportunities in the corporate fit out market for highly skilled individuals, and particularly in Design and Build firms.

The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for the Retail, Hospitality and Residential Markets. These areas have found the going very tough in the last quarter of 2009 and the signs are that it may take some time to pick up this year. As with Architecture, highly skilled and experienced candidates will be targeted as companies look to strategically appoint staff in order to develop their market share.

So in all, last year was a year of some ups and downs but certainly things could have been worse. In saying this we are sure that like us, you all said a very relieved ‘good-bye’ to 2009 and an excited ‘hello’ to 2010!!