Recruitment ‘on the up’ for the new year

Recruitment activity across the design industry is picking up after a quiet period at the end of last year, according to recruitment consultants.

“It’s obviously very early days, but recruitment activity this year is definitely on the increase,” says Stuart Newman of recruitment consultant Network Design.

“It may be a little down on this time last year, but things are certainly a lot better than last October when the whole country was convinced we were going into a recession. I think business has realised that it’s not going to be that bad after all,” he adds.

Kim Crawford, managing director of recruitment consultant Periscope, agrees there has been an upturn in demand for staff in the design industry.

“There is an enormous amount going on, with design consultancies looking to upweight their teams, on both the creative and the management side in all the areas we cover [corporate identity, annual reports and packaging],” she says.

Crawford says consultancies are particularly keen to recruit staff with a strong strategic background and good account handling skills.

“As clients continue to appreciate the importance of branding and the role of design within it, they are increasingly demanding people with strategic skills.

“In the ten years I’ve been doing this job the demand [for these skills] is higher than ever. Advertising planners with good client management skills are particularly well suited to this area,” says Crawford.