ECONOMIC plagues rarely have the selective powers to just take out the bad eggs and leave the good guys standing. A few years ago when Ireland’s economic wheels started to come off, Collins McNicholas Recruitment and HR Services Group MD Colman Collins predicted the downturn would force a lot of shoddy recruitment companies out of the market. He was right, but it also forced out some good ones. The number of recruitment firms has roughly halved. Some reputable ones were driven out by lack of business, others by misguided investments of their goodtime profits into property and failed equities. Collins McNicholas has survived well and is now seeing a significant lift in high skilled vacancies on its books, notably with multinational corporations: 283 vacancies as of yesterday, which is approaching 2007levels.

However, the indigenous SME sector is struggling, with low-skilled roles at an all-time low. Colman Collins says: “There are two very contrasting worlds out there —one for multinationals and one for SMEs. We are seeing a huge increase with multinational openings. However, nowadays recruitment agencies don’t get to handle the lesser roles like admin or clerical. Companies have no problems filling those roles themselves. “There is no easy low-hanging fruit. Recruitment companies are now primarily brought in to fill key professional roles in engineering, research, medical devices and ICT, senior managers in general. In many cases, these people are not passive candidates. “These are people who are not readily available. We are having to head hunt, people we find via networks like LinkedIn, who are not actively looking to move. Recruitment agencies have had to work at their game to succeed in this changing environment.

”Collins McNicholas has had to revisit its own practices to survive. In recent years the Galway-based agency imposed a number of redundancies throughout its five regional offices. Its latest data analysis shows job openings up 58% in the first half of 2011 versus the number of job vacancies registered with the group in the first half of 2010. Demand is greatest for experienced engineers across the medical technologies and pharmaceutical sectors; experienced science professionals in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors; and software developers in a range of ICT roles. Closer to its Galway headquarters, Collins McNicholas is also seeing demand for multilingual staff in back office and telesales roles. It is working to fill roles for the likes of medical devices start-up Alere in Galway, computer games producer EA Games (trading as BioWare), and Athlone – based market research company NPD.

Colman Collins says that the recovery in the multinational sector and in the exporting companies in the indigenous sector is one of the few bright spots in the Irish economy. The dynamism in these sectors is clearly borne out by the increase in the number of jobs which Collins McNicholas were asked to fill by new and existing client companies in 2011.The increased number of job vacancies year to date also reflects recent market commentary relating to a significant pick-up in the export sector in 2011.Thus, the remaining reputable recruitment agencies are primarily being asked to fill professional roles, which only leaves us wondering why the economic downturn Gods also chose to smote some of the good along with the bad. Colman Collins surmises: “Not all the recruitment companies that have gone have been fly-by-night operations. Some good agencies have been pulled down by properties they bought, perhaps an unwise move into owning their own premises. They have effectively been brought down by their mortgage. “Even those good ones like ourselves that have survived have had to make a few hard decisions to survive, with redundancies and wage cuts. We have now restored wage levels, and we have had to focus our attentions on the roles being sought by multinationals. “There is growing activity among multinationals and their suppliers, and among some Enterprise Ireland-supported export companies, who are also getting a bit busier. The SMEs, however, are still finding it very difficult. ”The contrasting fortunes of export-focused companies and those constrained by the flat domestic market really has created a sense of two very different business worlds. On the upside, the upswing among multinationals is evident in most corners of the country. For instance, Cork-based regional manager for Collins McNicholas, Sheila Hurley, remarks: “As Ireland emerges from economic global recession, increased numbers of high quality graduates in the Biotechnology, biopharma, software and engineering fields will be sought by industry. “Highly skilled graduates will act as a magnet for attracting foreign direct investment and will also help indigenous companies innovate and compete in emerging high tech global markets.”

Collins McNicholas have seen growth in the numbers of jobs registered across all the five regional offices  so far this year .     Although total employment is forecast to decline this year again [1] , there is  a strong  demand by industry for a range of  qualified people .
*Demand  for experienced engineers across the medical technologies and pharmaceutical sectors has been particularly strong.
* Experienced science professionals have also been in demand across the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors.
* The software industry has also bounced back with a large increase in the number of roles for software developers again across all regions.

 Commenting on these  trends  Colman Collins , Managing Director of the Group  noted
“ The recovery in the multinational sector and in the exporting companies in the indigenous sector is one of the few bright  spots in the Irish economy .  The dynamism in these sectors  is clearly borne out by the increase in the number of  jobs  which Collins McNicholas were  asked to fill  by new and existing client companies in 2011. The increased number of job vacancies year to date also reflects recent market commentary relating to a significant pick up in the export sector in 2011” Collins concluded.

According to Niall Murray General Manager of Collins McNicholas “As Ireland  emerges  from  economic  global recession,   increased numbers of high quality graduates in the Biotechnology, BioPharma, Software and Engineering fields will be  sought by industry”. Highly skilled graduates will act as a magnet for attracting foreign direct investment and will also help indigenous companies innovate and compete in emerging high tech global markets.

ENDS

Note:

The Collins McNicholas Recruitment & HR Services Group are this year celebrating 21 years in business and work closely with a range of multinationals and indigenous companies in Ireland. They are headquartered in Galway and have a nationwide presence with offices in Dublin, Cork, Sligo and Athlone

For further information please contact:

Colman Collins

Managing Director

Collins McNicholas Recruitment & HR Services Group

091 – 706706     087 2557322

colman.collins@collinsmcnicholas.ie

Niall Murray

General  Manager

Collins McNicholas Recruitment & HR Services Group

071 9142411                      087 2860239

niall.murray@collinsmcnicholas.ie          

As Managing Director of an SME I hope that whatever government is voted into office will be pro business and will quickly take decisive steps to ensure that Ireland continues along the path to improved competitiveness which most SME’s embarked on in 2008.

I also hope that the new government will recognise the need for new and existing businesses to survive and thrive as the SME sector has a key role to play in providing much needed employment and taxation revenue if it is given the chance to do so.

Specifically I would like to see a new government take the following actions within its first twelve months in office:-

1. Instruct the Irish headquartered banks to make a certain amount of funds available to profitable SME’s whose future is threatened by serious cash flow difficulties. These instructions need to be backed up by meaningful sanctions such as a withholding of financial support to banks which refuse to assist viable businesses with short term cash flow challenges.

It is nothing short of a scandal that we are seeing profitable SME’s closing because of cash flow difficulties. Many of these companies could have been saved had the outgoing government made it a condition of rescuing the banking sector that these same rescued banks had been compelled to make funds available to viable businesses with cash flow difficulties.

2. Take positive steps to facilitate entrepreneurs to set up new ventures in sectors where there is a reasonable possibility of success. There are openings in the ICT, financial services and medical devices sectors and in the green technology sector which should be actively encouraged.

3. Amend the absurd bankruptcy legislation which unreasonably punishes company directors whose businesses might have failed due to market forces. As well as being unjust this deprives the economy of the expertise of directors who should be afforded the opportunity to get back into business rather than suffering the stigma of being branded a bankrupt for 12 years. As a society we need to accept that some businesses do fail and business people should not be scapegoated because their companies have had to cease trading. Instead I would argue that these directors should be afforded the opportunity to learn from their failure and make a fresh start. Changing the bankruptcy legislation would help to remove the unnecessary stigma associated with business failure and this would encourage more people to take the risk of starting a new business.

4. Amend the social welfare rules which punish people whose businesses have failed by depriving them of normal unemployment benefit entitlements– this is an unjust and foolish way to punish people who took risks and provided employment and taxes in the economy

5. In general terms the new government should commit itself to increasing awareness that Ireland needs to have a thriving private sector in place before it can provide the range full of services citizens have a right to expect in a properly managed economy. It is alarming to hear so many people talking about their entitlements without having any sense of awareness of how these ‘entitlements’ are actually paid for.

6. The process of wage and salary determination needs to be revisited. There can be no doubt that the so called ‘partnership process’ lost its way in the past ten years and resulted in grossly inflated expenditure which was financed by taxes ensuing from a short term property bubble. It is a scandal that the SME sector had no say in the partnership process – if it had an input I am confident that the high level of pay increases and the notorious benchmarking fiasco would not have been allowed to happen.

7. The new government needs to urgently tackle the issue of government induced inflation. Two obvious costs is the issue of energy costs where the ESB monopoly and cost structure has to be addressed and also the area of commercial rates where businesses are now paying considerably more money for a significantly reduced service than they were getting ten years ago.

8. The new government should propose a referendum to write an article into the constitution prohibiting any future Irish government from spending more than it takes in taxes. After the austerity that the citizens have had to put up with since 2008 this referendum is necessary so that the country can never be run into the ground again

This list is not intended to be exhaustive but I do think most businesses would be satisfied if the list of proposals were acted on in the next twelve months.

Colman Collins
Managing Director
Collins McNicholas Ltd.

Pocket Watch

07 November 2010  

Colman Collins is the founder of Collins McNicholas, a recruitment and human resources firm. Collins spent 13 years working in multinational firms, mainly in HR roles, before establishing his company in Galway in 1990.

The firm now has offices in Dublin, Cork, Sligo and Athlone.

The 57-year-old is married and lives in Galway. He has a son aged 25 and a daughter aged 21.

What’s the best investment you ever made?

Buying my house at the bottomof the market in 1983.

What was the worst investment you ever made?

Buying Eircom shares.

Which investment options do you currently favour?

I don’t favour any particular financial investment. I enjoy a bet on the horses, where you know your fate very quickly.

What financial advice would you give to someone starting off? Save a little every year.

Don’t incur debt you can’t readily manage.

When you started your career, if you had the financial knowledge you now have, would you have done things differently?

I would take out a self-administered pension plan and I would not have bought shares.

Are you a saver or a spender? Neither at present, I live within my means.

What’s your top financial priority?

To manage my business through this period of economic downturn and to position it for the global recovery.

Have you made any changes to your personal spending habits as a result of the current economic environment?

I’m now more conservative in my spending habits. If you were the Minister for Finance for a day and could change one thing, what would it be?

I would extend the cosy cartel of the so-called ‘partnership process’ to include small business representatives.

Had that been the case for the past ten years, I believe the country would not have been allowed to lose its competitiveness. As a consequence, it would have been easier to retain and attract foreign direct investment.

If you had all the money you could wish for, what three things would you buy?

I honestly think I have all of the things I could wish for.

Time is much more important to me at this stage of my life.

http://www.thepost.ie/story/text/ojcwgbeyid/

Unique Opportunity for PHD Graduates

One of the disturbing things that struck me when I started prepare these few words was the number of former customers of Collins McNicholas in the early 1990’s which were no longer in business in 2010. This was particularly noticeable in the electronics sector and the IT sector where a significant number of our customers closed their doors in the past 10 years as Ireland began to lose its competitiveness.

In September 1990 unemployment stood at 13.2% similar to the figure of 13.7% in September 2010 but the make up of the figures is very different nowadays. In 1990 the figure comprised mainly blue collar workers whereas this time it is made up of male and female workers and comprises a large cadre of white collar workers who would never have experienced unemployment before.

Ireland was in serious debt in 1990 as it is now but there was little personal debt then whereas now there are large numbers of people with significant personal debt and many more who have fallen into a negative equity situation which is likely to be very prolonged in duration.

In 1990 the institutions of the state were still held in relatively high regard and two which often interfaced with employers and with the recruitment industry were politicians and the clergy. Back then it was not unusual for an employer to get representations from a politician on behalf of a constituent or from a priest on behalf of a member of his congregation. In light of the sharp decline in the standing of politicians and the clergy in Irish society in the past 20 years such representations have all but disappeared.

Changes in the Recruitment Process since 1990

Changes in Technology
The area of greatest changes has been in the area of technology. In 1990 the only technical means of communication between a recruitment agency and an employer would have been via post, telephone, fax or telex. There was no email then and there were no mobile phones.

If an employer wished to attract applicants for a vacant position they would be limited to placing an advertisement in a local or in a national newspaper. There were no job boards, no websites and no social media.

The technological changes since then have resulted in major changes in the English language with a new vocabulary being needed to describe the new means of communication. This new vocabulary would have been unimaginable a short 20 tears ago. For example can you imagine me as a proprietor of a recruitment agency in 1990 suggesting to an employer that I might send an email, a text, a tweet, or that I might skype them or hook with them on LinkedIn or Facebook they would probably have considered me quite mad and would have nothing further to do with me!!

As well as new words arising from the new technology we have also experienced the phenonenum of well known words acquiring new meanings. For example in 1990 if we heard someone talking about apples, blackberries and cookies we would understand that they were talking about food however no such assumptions can be made in 2010!!

Equally so in 1990 there would have been widespread alarm if there were rumours of bugs in an office or worse still if there was talk of a virus being present in the office. In such circumstances the oppressed HR Manager would probably have sent the entire staff to see the Company Doctor or the Health and Safety Officer – that is if the company employed such personnel in 1990!!.

Changes in Legislation
This was the next area of greatest change and it has had major implications for HR and for the recruitment industry in all stages of the sourcing and selection process. This could be seen in the type of Job Titles that were acceptable, the preparation of Job Descriptions and Person Specifications based on competencies required of applicants, the drafting of job advertisements, the CV short listing process, the drafting of interview questions, the documentation of interviews, the retention of interview records, and the reasons given to a candidate who has been not been shortlisted or who has not been offered a job they have applied for.

The bottom line is that recruiters and HR professionals must not only be fair but must be seen to be fair.

Other Changes
In 1990 there were few preferred supplier relationships (PSL’s) and employers handed out vacancies to a wide range of recruitment agencies on an indiscriminate basis without taking any steps to ascertain the professionalism of such agencies. This would be unusual nowadays when recruitment companies are vetted much more closely before being put on a PSL.

In 1990 there was very little use off psychometric testing and where it was used it was often used badly to unilaterally rule out large numbers of applicants or sometimes the tests that were being used were not appropriate to what it was they were endeavouring to measure. Nowadays psychometric tests and personality profiles are more widely used and tend to be used more as an aid in the recruitment process and are usually suitable for what they are purporting to measure.

Competency based interviewing or behavioural interviews were not widely used in 1990 whereas they have become the norm since then as they give the interviewers a much greater insight into the probable suitability of each interviewee.

Documentation of interviews was done on a limited basis in 1990 but it has become more widespread in recent years particularly in the public service.

Recruitment Industry in 1990
There are only 24 recruitment agencies in business now which held an employment agency licence in 1990 which is a particularly low long term survival rate.

In 1990 nearly all of the recruitment agencies were based in Dublin. This meant it was a significant challenge for Collins McNicholas in starting its first office in Galway to break the tendency of employers then to look to Dublin for recruitment assistance. This became a greater challenge when we decided to extend our service nationwide including opening a branch office in Dublin. Dublin agencies struggled with the idea of a company providing a national service from a Galway based HQ.

In 1990 it was very easy to establish a recruitment agency. All one had to do was to ensure your premises were safe, that that you had a couple of upstanding referees, that you paid an registration fee to the relevant minister and that you did not possess a criminal record. There were no requirements to have formal qualifications or a track record of relevant work experience.

There were no mechanisms in place in 1990 to monitor the operations of recruitment agencies and there were no effective complaints procedures in place to follow up on grievances brought forward by job seekers and by companies.

The Employment Agencies Act 1971 which sought to regulate the operations of employment agencies was both irrelevant and grossly inadequate.

The upshot of all this was that the industry had a bad name in 1990 and this got worse in the 1990’s as the sector expanded quickly with several ‘cowboy operators’ setting up with the explicit aim of making some fast money in the Celtic Tiger period.

Emerging Trends in the Recruitment Process and in the Recruitment Industry.

There has been a reduction in the effectiveness of generalist and specialist job boards as these only provide access to candidates who are active in the jobs market.

Lately there has been an increase in the effectiveness of social networking sites such as Linked in and Facebook by employers and by recruitment companies as these media provide access to passive candidates who are not actively looking for a job and this trend is likely to continue.

There has also been an increase in the headhunting capability of better recruitment companies at accessing these passive candidates.

Unfortunately an increased need has emerged for the checking of the accuracy of information on CV’s as more job seekers have resorted to provide false information on CV’s and have even backed this up by providing elaborate forgeries of formal qualifications.

Job seekers in 2010 tend to be better interviewees than in the past and often do outstanding interviewees based on acquiring mock interview experience. This trend is likely to continue as job seekers try to improve their interviewing performance at a time where employment is scarce and the competition for most positions is quite intense.

This makes the reference checking process particularly important to establish that a job seeker is as good as his CV and his interview might suggest, has the qualifications he is claiming to have and is not withholding any relevant information that a prospective employer would wish to be aware of.

As pointed out earlier PSL’s are becoming more selective with better recruiters are aspiring for an often achieving the status of recruitment partner as employers realise that sometimes “Less is More” i.e. that it’s better to have a close relationship with a small number of professional recruiters than a casual relationship with many recruiters. In that situation the recruitment partner often becomes an extension of the HR dept and possesses a detailed knowledge of the company, its products, its processes and its culture.

To get this preferred status or to get and retain partner status recruitment companies must “Add Real Value” in the recruitment process. An example of this might be a recruitment agency “going the extra mile” to source scarce resources by expanding overseas or by forming effective relationships with some recruitment agencies overseas.

All of this means that recruitment agencies have had to and will have to become more professional. They will be given a push along this road when the much maligned Employment Agency Act 1971 will be replaced by the Employment Agency Regulation Bill which will make it harder for employment agencies to set up and will set operating standards that agencies will have to comply with if they are to retain their employment agency licence.

Collins McNicholas eagerly awaits this legislation as we have lobbied extensively for legislation for more than10 years. We hope that this legislation will encourage recruitment agencies to formulate a vision to build on this and to aspire for professional status in much the same way as the HR profession recently achieved with the Institute of Personnel and Development

I hope that this brief will provide readers with some insight into the main changes in recruitment in the past 20 years and also given some indication of the type of changes which are emerging towards the latter end of 2010.

Colman Collins
October 1 2010

THE PROMOTERS of an ambitious plan to create 4,500 pharmaceutical research jobs in Co Kerry are in talks with the Saudi Arabian government about funding the entire cost of the €4.7 billion project.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen yesterday lent his support to the plan to create the large place of employment in Ireland and the biggest pharmaceutical research centre in the world on an industrial park in Tralee.

Mr Cowen said the proposed Global Pharmaceutical Centre of Excellence could rely on the “supportive engagement” of the State enterprise agencies to help bring the project to fruition.

He added: “When the detailed proposals for the project are submitted, I want to assure you that as head of Government, the expertise of our State enterprise agencies will be at your disposal to assist and support you further to bring this ambitious project to fruition.”

The centre, which already employs 65 people, said yesterday it was finalising plans for a planning application to Kerry County Council for a 1.2 million sq ft facility in the Kerry Technology Park in Tralee.

It plans to open in February 2013, subject to planning and other permissions.

The promoters, Irish pharmaceutical company Pharmadel, say up to 400 jobs will be created in advance of opening, with over 4,500 jobs envisaged when the centre is up and running. Pharmadel employs 12 people selling generic pharmaceuticals in Midleton, Co Cork.

Senior figures formerly in the European Commission, US politics and university governance have been approached about joining the board of the centre, according to Rory Doyle, vice president of global development at Pharmadel.

Mr Doyle said Government funding was not being sought. Discussions had been held with three sovereign funds about supporting the project and negotiations with one in the Middle East were at a critical stage. He declined to say who the potential investor was, but The Irish Times understands it involves a Saudi state funder.

When news of the project first emerged after local TDs were briefed during the summer, it was greeted with some scepticism in official circles, largely because of the unprecedented size of the plan. However, intensive lobbying appears to have allayed many of the initial concerns, and State agencies have now rowed in behind the plan.

Mr Doyle said he understood the scepticism, but insisted the project was realistic.

The pharmaceutical industry was re-inventing itself by contracting out the huge cost of developing new drugs, he pointed out, so an opportunity existed to carry out this work here.

“If you study the industry as we have you’ll see this is going to happen on a large scale. So why not in Ireland? And why not in Kerry?”

The centre will operate as a campus carrying out drug research on contract for individual companies and countries. Different departments with different research objectives will share their knowledge and operate under the one roof.

By PAUL CULLEN © 2010 The Irish Times

Article by ine Kerr Political Correspondent of the Irish Independent

ENTERPRISE Minister Batt O’Keeffe is preparing to accede to the IDA’s demands for an urgent staffing boost so it can cope with the jobs crisis — but he has refused to confirm if he would reinstate all of the 50 posts which had been cut.

The flagship agency has been starved of staff and resources at a time when more than 450,000 people are on the Live Register.

Last night Mr O’Keeffe said he had accepted the IDA’s arguments for increased resources and would provide funding for extra posts this week.

The minister said the IDA would be “quite happy” and “satisfied” with the offer.

Read the full article on the Irish Independent website

“THE flagship agency tasked with creating more than 100,000 jobs in the next four years has told the Government it cannot do so because it is being starved of staff and resources.

The chairman of the IDA, the most important state agency for new jobs, wrote to Enterprise Minister Batt O’Keeffe in May to express serious concern over its ability to meet targets.

An exasperated Liam O’Mahony told Mr O’Keeffe that chronic staff cuts had left the development agency unable to act adequately on the biggest issue facing the country.

“Minister, on behalf of the IDA board, I cannot overstate the gravity and urgency of this situation,” he concluded. “

Read the full article and we would love to hear your comments.