At the end of every calendar year, Top Echelon compiles and publishes statistics in a number of different categories. Well, now we’re back with more stats! Why? Because we love stats!
Specifically, we love stats that deal with where recruiters are making placements. To sharpen the focus on that a little more, we love stats that deal with where they’re making the most placements.
Keep in mind that the statistics in this blog posts are the result of placements made by members of the Top Echelon recruiting network during the calendar year of 2015. While they are just a sampling and not 100% indicative of the recruiting industry overall, they do provide an accurate picture of what Network recruiters experienced last year.
Before we begin, a bit of good news: completed placements in Top Echelon Network were 4% higher in 2015 than they were in 2014. That news comes on the heels of even better news: placements in the Network have increased on a yearly basis since 2011.
That’s four straight years of growth. That’s nothing to sneeze at. We’re not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. [Add your own witty idiom or witty expression here.]
Enough of the jabberwocky. Below are the top five industries for placements in Top Echelon Network in 2015:
#1—Industry & Manufacturing (36.6%)
This has been “king of the hill” in Top Echelon Network pretty much since its inception in 1988. Every year, more placements are made in Industry & Manufacturing than in any of the other industries, and there’s little doubt that will be the case again in 2016. (As you’ll see in future blog posts, one of the reasons for this is that there are plenty of job orders and candidates within this niche recruiting industry in Top Echelon Network.)
#2—Engineering (15.4%)
This has recently surpassed Information Technology to settle in the #2 spot as far as Network placements are concerned. A couple of years ago, Engineering was red hot within the Network, accounting for over 20% of placements at one point. While it has cooled off since then, the demand for engineers is still high across all industries and disciplines. Companies want to hire engineers, and they’re willing to pay executive recruiters to find suitable candidates.
#3—IT/Information Systems/Data Processing (13.0%)
While this industry once vied with Industry & Manufacturing for the top spot in the Network, it has now fallen to the #3 spot. However, that’s more because of the emergence of Engineering than the fall of IT. We expect IT to be strong again in 2016, and it might just heat up enough to overtake Engineering. When there’s a race like this in the Network, there really are no losers. To have all three of these industries above 20% would be most excellent.
#4—Sales & Marketing (10.1%)
You know how the saying goes: When companies are hiring Sales & Marketing professionals, that means they’re in growth mode. They’re willing to spend money marketing their products and services, which means they’re willing to spend money to hire Sales & Marketing professionals to help them market and sell their products and services. AND they’re willing to spend money on executive recruiters to help them hire those Sales & Marketing professionals. Clear as mud?
#5—Healthcare (6.1%)
Remember earlier, when I said Engineering was red hot a couple of years ago. Well, Healthcare was RED HOT about six or seven years ago within Top Echelon Network. Yes, it has cooled off quite a bit since then, but it has definitely not gone away altogether. In fact, one of the hottest niches right now involves placing IT professionals within Healthcare settings. Recruiters are making both direct hire and contract staffing placements in this niche, and it offers a tremendous opportunity in 2016.
The rest of the industries in the field:
Accounting—4.7%
Personnel & Human Resources—4.3%
Scientific—3.8%
We encourage you to send us a quick message on our Contact Us page. We like quick messages. Almost as much as we like stats.