Its been an interesting month for recruitment in #MRX. The number of Open to Work banners is falling and the volume of new job announcements on LinkedIN definitely on the increase. Hurrah!!!!
For us @The Hasson Partnership, its been a really strong month. We finalised 2 searches at Research Manager and Research Director level and at final stages for another 2 searches. The desire for strong commercial skills is still high and our latest searches really focus on that need for people who can build relationships.
We are also seeing increased demand for people with product management skills, this is now building to be a critical role in the market research agency world. Its a great way for skills to evolve for those who worked in operations roles in MR agency who have a strong commercial aptitude.
Supply and demand. Permanent hiring has stabilised after a long contraction, but demand is polarising. Generalist research and analyst roles are well supplied. The scarce people sit between research and technology: AI engineers, data engineers, and analysts who build automated workflows rather than just use them. Research firms are competing for them directly, with some large players standing up in-house AI engineering teams. There is still a strong need for those who are delivering impactful insight to their clients and we are seeing that strongly in the boutique firms.
We have also had some interesting conversations about contract hiring - allows the support without the committment which can be helpful for smaller firms in an unstable market.
Salaries. Headline pay is up low-to-mid single digits, but the gap is widening by skill. Some live ads price junior AI product engineers above mid-level research managers, and that inversion is straining traditional pay bands.
Biggest challenge. Finding people who can ship AI-enabled research in production. Plenty of candidates have used the tools, but few can show delivery, so shortlists look bigger than the real pool.
What to do differently this quarter. Stop waiting. The 28 October Budget brought no major new employment tax measures, so the uncertainty that has held back hiring decisions has cleared. Benchmark hybrid roles against the technology market, cap interviews at two rounds, and decide within 48 hours. And with minimum wage rising 3.9% in April, review entry-level pay differentials now. If it applies to you - also start to look at your non-compete’s and given they are about to disappear what can you do to protect your business.
For any support you need as you grow your team as always please get in touch with @Catherine Vaughan or @Sinead Hasson.
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The Hasson Partnership