First blog of the year.
I had resolved to do this monthly, but we’re mid-Feb already and the first one has only just hatched.
At this rate, 2014 could be the ‘Year of Sporadic Blog-posting’. But I’ll do my best to at least make it interesting!
Point of interest number 1: 55% of total executive appointments made by Jack Hammer in 2013 were White Males. This despite almost every single brief having a ‘strong preference’ for an EE or female appointment.
Point of interest number 2: The average time for a large corporate to pay suppliers – from the time that payment is actually due to the time that the money arrives in the supplier’s bank account – is no less than 42 days. How do I know this? Well, first hand experience! Compared with medium and small-sized companies or even NGO’s, which in spite of having Far Fewer Resources, manage to do this relatively simple task in an average of 9 days!
P.O.I nr 3: With the exchange rate being what it is, South African companies who have in the past been willing to consider appointing foreigners to top jobs are less likely to be able to afford the salary bill.
POI nr 4: Even though the exchange rate is scary, interest rates are hiking up, and verges in Johannesburg look like they have not been attended to in a year, South Africans abroad are still on the homeward bound journey. Each week we receive increasing numbers of unsolicited CV’s and referrals to professionals who are ready to head back to SA, should the right job come up.
POI5: It’s not that easy for ex- SAfricans to find great jobs back home…particularly in the financial services sector. Whereas this was once a hotbed of activity and global skills would have been snapped up in a millisecond, this is no longer the case! Just as whole divisions of banks have closed down in the financial capitals if the world, so too have they withered and died in SA.
If anyone can provide me with some rational explanation for some of the POIs above (POI 5 excluded – this is pretty self-explanatory), I would be most grateful.
Until next time (not committing to when!),
Debbie Goodman-Bhyat
CEO
https://www.jhammerglobal.com/team-member/debbie-goodman-bhyat/