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Management level talent shortage reaches ‘extreme’ level

The talent drought for senior positions in the marketing and sales industries has reached an extreme level, a report by a recruitment firm has suggested.

According to the Clarius Skills Index, there was a 4,900 job shortage among senior marketing, advertising and sales organisations in Australia during the last quarter ending June 2012.

This compares to a shortfall of 3,400 managers in the previous quarter, prompting recruitment firm Alliance to change an index its uses to measure job shortage from ‘very high’ to ‘extreme’.

Alliance Recruitment executive GM Paul Barbaro told Mumbrella that it was good news for highly paid executives, but bad news for employers.

“The best piece of advice I could give to any employer of a marketing or sales organisation is love them or lose them,” he said, adding that the marketing industry has been one of the worst hit in the wake of the financial crisis.

“As a result of the deflated retail climate, organisations are desperate to get a marketing edge and create sales. Anyone that can generate income and create wealth across all sectors is in high demand,” said Barbaro.

“However, high calibre candidates simply don’t want to move. Their view is ‘better the devil you know’. They also understand that creating sales is a pretty challenging thing to do in this market.”

Barbaro said it was too early to determine the impact changes to the Living Away From House Allowance – a tax perk for foreigners – would have on the job market.

“Given that LAFHA is still in place, it’s difficult to see what effect it will have just yet. But it is probable that LAFHA going will make it even tougher for employers to find good senior people from overseas.”

Reforms to LAFHA were announced by the government earlier this year, but the implementation of the new rules has been put off until October.

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