Hiring Trend │ General Affairs and Administration

Many companies sought to make more efficient use of their budgets in 2015. We saw steady hiring for accomplished, bilingual office managers who could manage multiple general affairs, administration and HR support tasks. Job seekers with specialist facility management, business continuity planning and vendor management experience were also in demand.

We expect these trends to continue in 2016, with competition for the best talent driving salary increases during the year. However, budget constraints meant that permanent hiring opportunities for experienced general affairs professionals were limited in 2015. The trend for filling admin and junior positions with temporary support continued. There is also a fall in the number of permanent positions led experienced permanent candidates to opt for lower-paid roles.

In the commerce contract market, there was little change in the number of roles available, although we saw employers become more flexible on rates. The shortage of experienced bilingual contract assistants in the general affairs, marketing and sales areas is set to continue during 2016.

Rates for contract support roles in the financial services industry will continue to increase in 2016. We expect to see further growth in the number of temporary roles shifting to contract vacancies. Furthermore, we also anticipate increases in the number of interim positions.