Welcome to our newsletter!

Good riddance 2024. Hello 2025 – you already look like you mean business!

Now in our 27th year as a leading executive search company we are excited to publish our biannual newsletter reviewing how 2024 concluded, current market conditions and our forecast for calendar year 2025.

Also, we have exciting news on two new service offerings from Perceptor:

  • The EXCLUSIVE #perceptornetwork service Career Hub and what it means to you
  • Perceptor launches a Technology Practice
Market Review: Challenges abound throughout 2024

The recruitment market was weak with continued fluctuations throughout 2024, maintaining this trend until December. Senior roles were scarce, salary increases were minimal, and processes were slow as businesses were still cost-cutting or in a state of inertia. Thankfully, there were exceptions for the harder-to-fill ‘unicorn’ type roles and the confidential ones.

With the holiday period over we have noticed a change in sentiment, and we are more confident that 2025 will be a better year to hire great talent, and for candidates to find new jobs.

2025 Forecast – Shift from cost-cutting to revenue growth

The market seems to have “switched on” in 2025 with more activity at all levels. We have already been awarded several mandates in 2025 for CMOs, CDOs and Sales Directors across a range of sectors.

A useful barometer of the overall recruitment landscape is the monthly Seek Ad Volume report. When reporting in March, the report noted ad volumes were very strong in January, slightly softer in February but the most stable since the beginning of the Covid period. It seems normality is finally returning.

The leading sector to come out of the downturn is financial services across banking, wealth and insurance. As always, they were the first to enter the cyclical downturn in hiring in 2023 and as per previous downturns and subsequent upswings they lead the other sectors.

FMCG, Consumer Goods and Retail appear to be slowly increasing hiring, but this is patchy depending on the specific sector. Technology is in the very early stages of a hiring recovery, but this sector had the most severe downturn by far. Other sectors such as the broad consumer services sector is also showing an appetite for hiring again in line with improved consumer sentiment.

The RBA rate cut in February, has boosted consumer and corporate sentiment domestically. Companies are beginning to shift focus from cost-cutting to revenue growth. This is expected to lead to increased investment in marketing, sales, and digital roles, slowly rebuilding throughout the year.

What could go wrong?

Trump. There is no doubt the US tariff policies will cause confusion and frustrate corporate decision making until Boards and CEOs understand what the impact on their sector and company will be.

In-Demand Skills

Key themes in skills demand have emerged across all sectors:

C-Suite Leaders: Companies seek executives who excel in navigating change, managing ambiguity, driving growth, and stakeholder management. Expectations and rewards for these roles have risen significantly.
Marketing: Efficiency and optimisation are crucial. Organisations aim to maximise martech investments, with a focus on data and digital capabilities. AI understanding is increasingly important for marketers to leverage data-driven insights and automation.
Digital & Data: The focus is on improving efficiencies and ensuring investments yield results, moving away from capability-building.
Sales: Companies prioritise new business development and “hunter” roles over strategic account management, with opportunities expected to become available across most sectors.

Attention Hiring Managers

If you are debating whether to hire, now is the time to act! Waiting for better economic conditions will put you in competition with numerous companies all trying to hire at once. From our 27 years of experience at Perceptor, we’ve observed that hiring freezes often lead to simultaneous recruitment surges, resulting in a scramble for candidates with similar “hot skills,” reminiscent of previous cycles.

Recent Perceptor Placements
  • AMP hired Tina Cleary as CMO
  • De’Longhi hired Reagan Parkes as General Manager, NZ
  • The Australian Institute of Company Directors hired Paul Merrill as Head of Content & Communications
  • The Australian Institute of Personal Trainers/Foundation Education hired Magdalena Kusyk as CMO
  • Avant Mutual hired David Rischmiller as Head of Digital
  • Eurofield Information Solutions hired Justin Lawrence as General Manager
Market Moves
  • Westpac’s chief marketer Annabel Fribence has departed the bank having joined from KFC in 2021
  • Richard Burns joined Colonial First State to be Group Executive for the Customer Office
  • Domain Group CMO Rebecca Darley left for TPG to be Group CMO
Perceptor’s Career Hub – Are you missing out?

As part of our commitment to being your long-term partner as your career evolves, Perceptor launched Career Hub.

We have partnered with industry-leading experts to provide personalised, boutique services across the following areas:

  • International Mentorship Program
  • Employment Legal Advice & Support
  • Leadership Coaching (Online)
  • Executive Coaching
  • CV Writing/Personal Branding
  • Marketing Training/Skills Development
  • Interview Coaching
  • Go to Career Hub to register your interest
Perceptor Launches a Technology Practice

With the appointment of Luke Singleton, Perceptor is excited to share it has launched a dedicated Technology Practice to support clients in hiring top talent for Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology Officers, and other senior technology leadership roles.

Luke brings 25 years of experience in executive level tech recruitment and has been a trusted member of the Perceptor Network for over 10 years. Luke will lead the focus on key technology leadership positions.

The Technology Practice will complement our existing expertise in the Office of the Customer (Digital, Sales, Marketing, Product) and CFO sectors.

DO YOU NEED HELP?

If you need help recruiting or for your own next career move please contact me on mark@perceptor.com.au

Follow us on LinkedIn and join the Perceptor Network #perceptornetwork

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