Permanent jobs on the way up, says Peoplebank

Lia Timson
Thursday, 17 April 2008 13:44

IT People - Enterprise

Peoplebank’s $100 million purchase of Ambit is starting to pay off with the managing director, Leon Lau, forecasting strong future growth for the recruiter despite a softening economy.
The now largest IT&T recruitment agency in Australia, publicly-listed Peoplebank concluded the acquisition of the privately-held Ambit Group in February. Shortly after, the company announced 21% growth in revenue and 34% growth in profit, not including any contributions from Ambit.
 
Despite worsening economic conditions since the merger, Lau remains confident he made the right move. Peoplebank had already acquired WA agency Gryphon last year.

“Our level of permanent placements is the highest it’s ever been. Our monthly run rate is the highest it’s ever been and going up. Our business is driven by the IT project cycle. Telstra is hiring very heavily as are retail banks and insurance companies,” Lau says.

“The only softening is happening in Canberra with the change in Federal Government. We don’t see it softening elsewhere,” he says explaining that traditionally new governments put new hiring on hold until it reviews all procedures.

“Other than (pointing to) a trend, I don’t take any notice of the job indexes. They show me nothing new from quarter to quarter.”

Instead he measures market conditions by the jobs on the agency’s books and its fill rate which he won’t divulge.
“I have visibility of all jobs in the next three months and forecasts for the next six.”

Up to 60% of the vacancies are not advertised, being filled by candidates on the company’s 200,000 candidate database, he says.

The database includes 3,500 billing contractors, but most of the growth is now coming from one to three-year permanent placements.

Lau says this doesn’t mean employees have more stability. In fact, short-term contracts offer better tenure because employees have their work guaranteed for the length of the contract, while permanent arrangements can be easier to change or end. CONTINUE PAGE 2