Signs the Economy Will Improve Soon
Confidence in the ExecutiveEmployment Market — Next 6 months
Source: ExecuNet
Positive economic indicators may give way to solid growth in the months ahead, according to ExecuNet's Recruiter Confidence Index (RCI) data. In the August survey of 145 executive recruiters, 49 percent are confident or very confident the executive employment market will improve in the next six months — up from 46 percent in July. During this period of time, recruiters are expecting almost 5 percent growth in search assignments from their corporate clients.
"The question is no longer about when will there be a recovery, but how big it will be," says Mark Anderson, president and chief economist of ExecuNet. "The good news is that from an economic standpoint, consumer confidence has recovered to the levels of last year before the financial crisis, and home sales are showing upticks. The rapid decline we experienced in the last year presents a ‘no place to go but up’ perspective."
Recruiters' short-term confidence is pointing upward, as 25 percent report being confident or very confident the executive employment market will improve during the next three months — up from 20 percent in July.
Introduced in May 2003, the Recruiter Confidence Index is based on a monthly survey of executive search firms conducted by ExecuNet, a private network for business leaders. Designed to forecast job growth at the executive level, a reading above 50 percent indicates recruiters expect the number of search assignments in the next six months will increase. Independent analysis of the RCI has confirmed it is a leading indicator for the executive employment market.
