Uptick seen in company hirings
Published:Friday | June 17, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Lorraine Salmon, labour market analyst with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, has confirmed a strengthening of demand for new blood in local businesses especially in the fields of finance, wholesale and manufacturing.
"Demand is picking up again, although not as before," she stated on Wednesday, suggesting that hirings were still not as robust as pre-recession levels.
"The strongest trends are in wholesale and large manufacturing. They are seeking sales staff and managers. The financial sector is also showing improvement."
Digicel Jamaica is currently hiring five for its finance department, inclusive of a finance manager, financial budget analyst and a financial accountant, but head of group public relations, Antonia Graham, said on Wednesday that the recruitments were not indicative of a change in operation.
"It's business as usual," with no change in operations contemplated, she said.
Red Stripe Jamaica has openings for 10 executive positions for its sales and marketing arm with the aim of 'transforming' sales and customer relations. The beer maker and spirits distributor has advertised for a business development executive, route activation executive, route business development executive, category development manager, sales executive and commercial analyst.
The company said last night that just two of the recruits were new positions. The others do not add to the head count, Red Stripe said.
One of the recruits sought, as disclosed in the ad, is account manager for supermarkets and convenience stores to "maximise sales volume and brand profitability" in the outlets.
Battered by falling sales and increased special consumption taxes on some of their brands, the company is apparently investing in marketing as a means of reclaiming ground lost to competing brands and reduced consumer demand, in some cases.
According to labour analysis done by the labour ministry, in the last quarter of 2010 and first of 2011, demand was greatest for sales personnel and managers.
In October to December 2010, some 262 advertisements were placed for sales staff, and 234 in the following quarter.
For managers, 200 ads were placed with 264 in the January to March 2011 quarter.
Over the two quarters, demand tripled for drivers and delivery persons, with 125 solicitations placed in October to December, and 320 for January to March.
According to the labour ministry, the leading occupation groups in which jobs were advertised in the quarter January to March 2011 were "professionals, senior officials and technicians with 1,545 advertisements; followed by service workers, shop and market sales workers with 1,166.
The top five sectors were wholesale and retail and repair services; manufacture; other community, social and personal services; hotels and restaurants; and education.
In addition to press ads, some 300 job openings were posted on electronic job-matching services sites from January to March.
The three primary websites were SplashJamaica.com, Electronic Labour Exchange and CaribbeanJobs.com. The sites largely advertised openings for "Professionals, senior officials and technicians", while talent sought ranged from managers, lecturers, facilitators, sales representatives to legal and marketing officers.
The managers in demand covered operations, project, sales, brand, marketing, human resource and account managers.