Clodagh Murphy is Executive Director and owner of Cathedral Appointments, and an experienced business leader with almost 30 years' expertise in technology, telecommunications, leadership and business growth. Having held senior executive and Managing Director roles within high-growth organisations, alongside numerous Non-Executive Director and Chair appointments across the South West, Clodagh brings a commercial perspective to workforce planning, talent acquisition, recruitment strategy and organisational growth. She regularly shares insights on employment trends, leadership, hiring challenges and the issues affecting businesses across the South West and wider UK economy.
Blog
Recruitment and hiring insights: December 2024
Posted in Employers
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Posted by
Clodagh Murphy
Published on 14 January, 2025
December can always prove a tighter employment market, with many celebrating the season with family and friends, and the search for a new role and new team members taking a back seat.
This year, was no exception, with the impact of the budget driving a greater decline in available roles and increased redundancies across the region in December.
We saw a drop in applications per role, compared year on year, along with a drop in available roles across the employment market. The number of applications was also up. The market, for a large number of roles, has moved to an employer one with more options available as there are more candidates on the market looking for new roles.
Given the economic challenges, limited economic growth and increased business costs (National Insurance increases from April) businesses are assessing the best way to manage – there are three key themes to my discussions with businesses in the South West;
- Reduce colleagues to take out costs
- Increase prices to pass on the cost to customers
- Reduce spend on pay rises in the coming year, so that the cost is somewhat absorbed.
In some cases, clients are using a combination of these to offset the additional tax burden on their P&L.
We expect we will see mixed interest from both candidates and businesses over the next few months, some looking to take a step back and watch, with others driving forward and pushing for innovation.
It’s certainly going to be an interesting 2025!
Executive Director
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