The recruitment market is heating up
Europe’s IR recruitment market continues to hot up. Thoughts that it might have dropped off during the summer months appear to have been misplaced and those in the know are predicting a mad scramble to hire high quality IR officers over the coming months. Salaries are rising accordingly as demand outstrips supply. Indeed, rumors of a Swiss company searching for an IRO for around £200,000 have been floating around the UK market for several months.
What’s causing this sudden upsurge in demand? Put simply, it’s an emerging recognition of the value of the IR function. In a number of continental European markets – Germany is perhaps the best example this year – there are listed companies looking for IR officers for the first time. By and large, German companies have been terribly slow at adapting to IR, but now they’ve got the bug they want to do things properly. That means searching for well-qualified, financially aware IR officers who know the domestic, US and UK markets. And that doesn’t come cheap.
It’s not just continental European markets, though. In the UK, the need for good IRO’s is seeping further down into the FTSE 250. Companies which didn’t think they warranted a dedicated IR officer in the past have suddenly found room for a new position.
Drop in a few extra ingredients such as the coming of the euro, consolidation of the fund management industry and the changing nature of research and you’ve got a recipe for an IR hire-fest. A few years of rising indexes helps, too.
But what happens if those indexes start falling? Take a look at Asia. Admittedly, many Asian companies were a lot lower on the IR learning curve than their counterparts in Europe. But one presumes the same rules might apply, just a little less exaggerated.
Unfortunately, the most common reaction in Asia to the crisis has been to slash IR budgets severely. A wrong reaction but perhaps understandable. We had to work hard to source those taking the opposite track for this month’s Coming out fighting story.
With market jitters hitting Wall Street over the summer and immediately being reflected in Europe, it might not be too long before those falling indexes become a longer-term reality outside of Asia and other emerging markets.
What’s the message from Investor Relations magazine? Europe’s IROs looking for a lucrative move might do well to bring their CVs up-to-date quickly. The IR recruitment market in Europe might not collapse in Asian style once the bears begin to growl around the region, but those searching for the mega-buck salaries would be well advised to get their feet under a new desk while the going remains so good.