Lucas Group, a respected leader in professional recruiting, today released the U.S. Trends in Professional Hiring Report: Q2 2009. The report, based on an analysis of thousands of candidate placements in a wide range of industries throughout Lucas Group's second fiscal quarter of 2009 - January through March 2009 - shows that despite the growing unemployment rate, qualified executives are still in demand in a number of industries, such as Finance, Manufacturing, Medical, and Advertising and Marketing. In addition, since January of 2009, Lucas Group has seen a 20% increase in first interviews across all of its practice areas, indicating that more job opportunities are becoming available.
"While the country is still in the midst of an economic downturn, we find it encouraging to see that our clients are still hiring in a number of job areas, and some previously flat areas are beginning to show an increase in hires as well," says Ms. Andi Jennings, president and CEO of Lucas Group. "That information, coupled with the recent uptick in first interviews, lends a positive sign for the future."
Hiring Activity by Industry
Lucas Group represents organizations and job seekers in a broad range of industries and markets, including Accounting and Finance, Advertising and Marketing, Real Estate and Construction, Aerospace and Defense, Legal, Manufacturing and Engineering, and Information Technology. For the company's second quarter of 2009, professional hiring remained consistent in a number of market areas, and showed growth in new areas including:
Manufacturing
In Lucas Group's second fiscal quarter of 2009, professional employment in the Manufacturing industry continued to hold steady, accounting for 28% placements during quarter. Executive-level employment included professional hires in the areas of technical research, development and operations and supply chain, in industries such as steel, moving, storage and third-party logistics.
Medical
From January through March of 2009, organizations seeking executives with expertise in the medical industry continued to hire. Job placements in this sector accounted for 10% of candidates placed by Lucas Group in the second quarter, showing a steady increase of 5% from Q1 and 3 percent from Q4 of 2008. Placements in this area included positions within the areas of biotech marketing and sales.
Military Transitions
Lucas Group's military division, which facilitates successful military transitions of NCOs (Non-Commissioned Officers), JMOs (Junior Military Officers), SMOs (Senior Military Officers), and Technicians from active duty military service to civilian careers, continued to see a high level of activity throughout the first quarter. Military veterans were placed in a number of job areas, including Engineering, which accounted for 28% of jobs placed; Operations, accounting for 14% and Manufacturing coming in at 12%.
Accounting and Finance
Throughout Q2 2009, Lucas Group's executive recruiters paired qualified Accounting & Finance talent with clients throughout the U.S. Hires in Corporate Finance roles accounted for 22% of placements in the sector, a 16% increase over the last quarter; Financial Analysts accounted for 15% of jobs placed, a 2% uptick from Q1; Financial Executives with Tax expertise accounted for 9% of jobs placed, a 5% increase over Q1; and executives responsible for Financial Reporting accounted for 8% of placements, a 1% increase quarter-over-quarter.
Advertising and Marketing
Executive hires in the Advertising and Marketing sector continued to increase in the second quarter, accounting for 13% of jobs placed by Lucas Group in Q2. This was an increase of 4% from Q1 and 3% from Q4 of 2008, indicating that during the downturn, companies are still keen to market their products and services. Lucas Group placed senior-level professionals in both corporate and agency environments within the areas of business development and online strategic positions.
Legal
During Lucas Group's second quarter of 2009, the firm's team of Legal executive recruiters placed a number of attorney and partner positions throughout the U.S. Of the Legal positions placed during the quarter, the jobs areas that saw the most growth were Labor & Employment, accounting for 28% of candidate placements, an 8% uptick from the prior quarter; Litigation and Commerce, accounting for 17% of hires during the quarter, a 17% increase over Q1; Intellectual Property, which accounted for 11% of hires, a 4% increase from the prior quarter.
Hiring Activity by Region
In addition to providing a breakdown of executive hiring trends by industry, the Lucas Group report highlights the U.S. geographic regions where professional job placement remains stable. The Q2 2009 report cites the States that saw the most job placements in the quarter as Texas, Illinois, California and Tennessee. Texas accounted for 15% of all executive appointments placed by Lucas Group in the first quarter, while Illinois and California accounted for 13% respectively and Tennessee accounted for 7% , up 6% from the prior quarter.
The next Lucas Group Trends in Professional Hiring Report will be released in July 2009 to report executive hiring trends for Lucas Group's third fiscal quarter of 2009.