2023 Economic Outlook and the Importance of Getting Specialist Recruitment Right.

The 2023 Economic Outlook

Google ‘2023 economic outlook’ and you’ll be faced with several articles proclaiming 2023 to be the start of a recession. This word – recession – is enough to strike fear into the heart’s of even the most staunch, steadfast optimist.

But there’s something that economists aren’t overly forthcoming about: just two quarters without GDP growth and an economy is classified as being in recession. That’s no time at all. The economy can just as easily rebound from stagnating quickly, lifting the gloomy overcast of a potential recession. January could look bad, but April could look rosy, or at least, nowhere near as bad.

Then there are opinions. The World Economic Forum’s Chief Economists Outlook for 2023 has stated that performance will depend on where you’re located in the world. The Middle East, North Africa and South Asia are expected to experience moderate to strong growth. The US and Europe are expected to experience weak growth. The International Monetary Fund’s outlook on global growth has also been reduced from 1.2% to 0.5% in 2023. Again, this is just an opinion. Educated guesswork.

Of course, the affect perceived weak growth has on recruitment is another matter. What we do know is that in specialist roles, especially in the shipping and logistics sector, are still highly sought-after regardless of how the economy is performing.

Why You Need to Hire a Specialist Recruiter

Some recruitment consultants are plain bad at their jobs. Their only concern is finding a candidate to fill a role. They care little about if the candidate themselves. Whether they’ll be of value to the business. If they’ll be happy and not jump to pastures new in three or six months.

This is not the case when you hire a specialist recruiter. They have specialist knowledge, have invested much time building their knowledge and experience in a specific field. This could be C-suite hires. It could be a sector, like logistics. But, believe us, a specialist recruiter knows how to navigate the labour market, communicate with clients and candidates, build relationships and more.

Don’t forget too that specialist recruiters will know – and have relationships – with the best candidates. Need a C-suite hire with more than a decade of experience operating at the very highest level to great success? A specialist recruiter can find you that candidate.

What about specialist, skilled roles? Well, you’re unlikely to find stellar candidates by posting a job vacancy on your company’s LinkedIn page or sending a tweet to your followers. You need to hire a specialist recruiter like LME. In need of an ocean freight forwarder or export documentation coordinator? Take a look at our current vacancies. You may just be in look!

Bad hires are costly. Ask any candidate who’s ever found themselves in the wrong job or business who have made the wrong decision and they’ll say just this. And we’re not just talking about financially costly. Bad hires can affect productivity, morale. Businesses need to make sure that they get their new hires right. They need to hire a specialist recruiter when recruiting for specialist roles, it’s that simple.

This means not hiring someone with 2-3 years’ experience in middle management to a C-suite role or an HGV Class 1 Night Shunter without a digital tachograph card. It means dotting the ‘I’s and crossing the ‘T’s’, something that a specialise recruiter, like LME excels at.

But there’s more. Skilled recruiters understand the importance of clear communication and relationship building. They can operate effectively in a team environment and, in the case of specialist recruitment, understand the nature of various specialisms and the skills candidates need to demonstrate to succeed in a role.

For instance, a refrigeration engineer must understand how to setup units for bookings, monitor temperatures, test and repair refrigeration units for PTI and much more to be successful in the role.

A specialist recruiter can match the right candidate with the right job. They’ll have a candidate selection process, meeting with them to get a feel for, not just their skills and experience but, their personality and ethos. Then they’ll select the candidates most likely to succeed and present them to the client.

The bottom line? Skilled recruiters have the knowledge, expertise, passion, commitment and skills to operate successfully. They’re specialists at what they do. And know how to source candidates for big projects, like Port One Logistics Park.

Port One Logistics Park

If there’s one project in the Suffolk coast that will benefit from specialist recruitment, it’s the Port One Project. Located just a stone’s throw from Britain’s largest container port, Felixstowe, Port One offers VNA high-density modern warehousing over nine separate floors.

It’s multi-level marshalling area maximises square footage, allowing the premises to provide bespoke storage solutions, including the innovative cube storage space, creating the most available storage space. Not only that, the premises features mezzanine floors across all available storage space.

As the most centrally located customs site in the entire Freeport East Zone, Port One Logistics Park succeeded in its bid to become a UK Freeport. Encompassing parts of Felixstowe and Harwich, which when combined form the UK’s largest container port, connecting UK businesses with 165 countries beyond the EU and handling 60% of the UK’s trade with Asia, Freeport East is the UK’s port for global trade.

As you can probably imagine, recruiting the right talent to operate Port One Logistics Park with seamless precision is not an easy task. It requires the knowledge and expertise of a specialist recruiter who can work with CEOs to understand and fulfil the staffing needs of the premises, sourcing high-pedigree candidates who’ll ensure seamless operations across all disciplines and levels of the facility. This is something that LME knows how to do – to identify those candidates with the skills and expertise to add real value.

The Importance of Getting Recruitment Right in 2023

2022 may have seen strikes. There may have been some conflicting economic reports, but that hasn’t stopped the wheels of industry from turning. Employers still require talent, as demonstrated by Port One Logistics Park.

No one has a crystal ball. No one knows what 2023 will bring. Will economic growth stagnate, or will it rebound? Will employers look to more specialist hires, or will transferrable, even general skills be in-demand? Only time will tell.

Whatever the case, getting candidate hiring right, especially specialist hiring is paramount. For this reason alone, leveraging the services of a talented recruiter, one with the knowledge, experience, the industry contacts to match the right candidate with the right job is paramount.

The bottom line? If you want to get specialist recruitment right in 2023 and you operate in the logistics and shipping space, contact LME Recruitment.