Conditions and confidence in the executive employment market improve in June

ExecuNet, a career management and recruiting resource center for executives and recruiters, today released the results of its June Recruiter Confidence Poll. The recent survey of 230 recruiters reveals search professionals are expecting the executive employment market to improve in the third quarter.

According to the survey, 55% of recruiters report that business conditions in the executive search industry improved over the past thirty days. Many in the industry are expecting this growth to continue - as 40% are somewhat confident and 26% are either confident or very confident that the executive employment market will improve in the three months ahead. The percentage of recruiters that are confident or very confident climbed from 14% just one month ago.

The executive employment market is stronger today than it was one year ago at this time, says Mark Anderson, President of ExecuNet. However, the pace of the recovery has been slow, which helps to explain why a number of recruiters remain cautiously optimistic.

In looking forward six months, recruiters are more confident the executive employment market will gain strength - 47% are confident or very confident it will improve, up from 36% one month ago, and 41% are somewhat confident.
Over the course of the next three months, the search industry is expecting a 7% increase in the number of assignments they receive from companies. For the next six months, this projection increases to 15%.

The past two years have been a buyer''s market, says Anderson. And while growth projections do not suggest a hockey stick rebound, they do indicate that executives should start to see more opportunities in the near future.

To prepare for growth in the executive employment market, 28% of recruiters report that their firm has plans to hire additional professional staff in the next three months, this is double the number (14%) that have increased staff in the past three months.

For 15 years ExecuNet has kept executives and recruiters informed of trends in the executive employment market. It is the first source executive and corporate recruiters use to find top executive talent. Founded in 1988, ExecuNet posts upwards of 25,000 executive jobs annually; provides information on salaries and market trends; hosts networking meetings in approximately 60 major metropolitan cities across the U.S.; and publishes four newsletters covering the latest tips, tactics, strategies, and resources for executive job search, career management, networking, and recruitment.