We recently conducted a poll of Top Echelon Network recruiters by posting a question in the Members’ Area.
That question was as follows:
How would you characterize your thoughts about the second half of the year on your desk?
Results:
The choice of answers that we provided is listed below, along with the percentage of recruiters that selected each one:
- Uber optimistic! — 8.8%
- Solidly optimistic — 52.9%
- As neutral as neutral can be — 27.2%
- A little pessimistic — 4.8%
- VERY pessimistic — 5.1%
Analysis:
First for the good news. Less than 10% of the recruiters who responded to the poll question are pessimistic at all about the second half of the year.
In fact, that percentage was 9.9% . . . 4.8% who are “a little pessimistic” and 5.1% who are “VERY pessimistic.”
That leaves 90% of participants who are not pessimistic. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that all of those recruiters are optimistic. That’s because 27.2% of them are “as neutral as neutral can be.”
More good news: over 50% of poll participants are optimistic about the second half of the year to some degree. While it’s true that only 8.8% of that group describes themselves as “Uber optimistic,” another 52.9% still chose “solidly optimistic” as their answer.
Conclusion:
So—are recruiters optimistic about the second half of the year? Yes, but with a caveat of sorts.
As might be expected, recruiters are cautious about the second half of 2015. The U.S. economy appears to be on solid footing, especially when compared to the rest of the world, and demand for hiring is still high in most industries and niches.
However, recruiters who have been in the profession for any length of time know how quickly a downturn can affect their firm and their desk. As a result, even when they’re optimistic about the future, it’s usually a “cautious optimism.”
That approach can probably best be summed up by this phrase: “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.”
Viewed in that regard, it would certainly seem that nearly as many recruiters are preparing for the worst as are hoping for the best.