But despite the validity of these findings, a word of caution to all prospective job seekers. While skilled candidates are undoubtedly becoming more marketable, you should not let this cloud your judgement about the extent to which you can afford to be choosy and negotiate offers.
From the recruiters’ perspective, it’s true there are more roles available today than there were six months ago, but the boom has quite simply been over-hyped. More to the point, employers have learnt from the mistakes made in the early 1990s when skilled candidates were in such short supply that they made sky-high salary and benefits demands. Today employers will, generally speaking, not negotiate with prospective employees who make unreasonable demands.
The skills shortage means there will be an increased need for professionals with specialist skills, but at the same time those who can demonstrate versatility will be keenly sought. In particular, there will be a demand for professionals who can adapt their expertise at a lower level, for example, switch between payroll and receivables.
There is undoubtedly an increase in roles offering competitive packages for skilled professionals. And given the skills shortage, there is plenty of help for employers, who need fast and effective answers to their staffing problems and are prepared to pay for quality.
But candidates will quickly learn not to be too pushy. With more and more jobs coming onto the market, prospective employees need to take care not to waste too much time negotiating the minutiae with you – in the time it takes to navigate the nitty-gritty, the job could easily have gone to someone else.