Joslin Rowe Reports Recession Has Created Demand For Generation R Employees
Released
on: April 13, 2010, 12:16 am
Author:
Joslin Rowe
Industry:
Human Resources
Joslin Rowe has revealed that the recession has created demand
among companies for a new class of employee known as Generation R, with
68% of City employers recognising Generation R as an emerging labour
market force.
Generation R is a term coined to describe those professionals who were retained
during the recession, escaped redundancy, worked in far leaner teams and thus
progressed faster than usual as they took on the work of more senior ex-colleagues.
According to research across 571 professional bankers, lawyers and accountants in
London, 70% stepped up to the more technically demanding responsibilities that
redundant colleagues left behind and 81% gained more experience and a wider skill
set during the recession than at any time in the boom years. Now the recession has
eased, 73% believe they are performing at a level above their current job title -
and want recognition and reward for their achievements.
The Generation R trend has been identified by Joslin Rowe, the UK financial services recruitment agency of the world's second largest HR
and recruitment services group, Randstad. Joslin Rowe Managing Director, Tara Ricks,
said: "Filled with confidence as to their own abilities and what they can offer,
Generation R has high expectations as to what their next move should be. Some
initial research we've conducted across our banking recruitment desks shows that
many assistant vice president (AVP) level candidates feel they operated at a junior
vice president (VP) level during the recession and therefore will only move on to a
competitor, or stay at their current firm, in return for a VP title."
City employers are also fast becoming aware of the Generation R phenomenon. Of the
163 surveyed, 70% agree that the employees they retained in the recession are more
proficient and commercially aware thanks to their experiences over the last 18
months. 59% acknowledge they have discovered future 'stars', who weren't apparent
before the recession forced employers to give smaller teams increased
responsibilities. Over a third of organisations (37%) also stated they feel pressure
to progress their existing staff to the next level (title wise) faster than would
usually be the case, because of their recent track record.
Interestingly, 53% of hiring managers admitted they have a preference at CV stage
towards candidates who were retained during the recession as opposed to those who
were made redundant. Tara Ricks believes this has more to do with the high demand
for Generation R CVs than any negative reflection on candidates who were made
redundant:
"It's not that losing your job in the recession is seen as a stigma rather that
being retained during the worst economic downturn in modern history carries so much
kudos. Employers only have to look internally at the people they retained to know
they possess a unique set of skills, so it's only natural to want to entice the
same Generation R population from their competitors. It's almost a form of
Guerrilla warfare - as companies start to focus all their efforts on attracting and
retaining the very best Generation R employees."
ENDS
About Joslin Rowe:
Founded in 1982, Joslin Rowe recruits for the financial services sector from London
headquarters as well as offices Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dubai. Operating as the
preferred supplier to over 113 major financial services employers, Joslin Rowe
typically recruits for over 1,000 positions per month, including HR jobs, banking jobs, insurance jobs and other finance jobs for professionals earning, on
average, £65,000.
PR Contact:
Belinda Walmsley
Associate Director
Joslin Rowe
London Wall
EC2M 7AD
0207 786 6907
www.joslinrowe.com