CHI: impact of industry M&A activity on recruitment process and candidate market

CHI: impact of industry M&A activity on recruitment process and candidate market
05 November 2015


Chad Harrison International (CHI), the global permanent solution specialist and executive search consultancy provider for the building materials, cement, aggregate, and industrial minerals sectors, has launched the first of its Quarterly Market Insight reports, outlining the impact of recent industry merger and acquistion activity on the recruitment process and the candidate market.

The report outlines recent movement on the corporate landscape, in particular citing the major tie-up between LafargeHolcim in July 2015, during the build to which the candidate market saw an influx of passive interest from staff at all levels of both organisations. CHI said the majority of interest in new opportunities came from corporate level and senior members of both organisations globally as of the operations came under interest due to monopoly legislations.

The subsequent EUR6.5bn investment of the offloaded assets by CRH further created a range of opportunities for some of the best candidates in the market to join an exciting organisation with seemingly deep pockets, the report noted.

Further excitement was seen with the announcement of HeidelbergCement's 45 per cent share acquisition of Italian heavyweight Italcementi. How this will affect the market over the coming months will be exciting to watch as HeidelbergCement expands its reach into further emerging markets in Europe, north Africa and the Middle East. Finally, the market has seen the attempted takeover of Swiss industrial firm Sika AG by Saint Gobain.

CHI stated that it has seen an increase in the need for engineering staff, primarily process
engineering, production and mining engineering profiles as well as highly experienced, multi-skilled senior level profiles.

"We are seeing a rising demand in the need for senior level candidates with commercial acumen, operational,  technical, management, P&L and stakeholder management experience within the cement industry. This has been key over the previous quarter as companies are adopting a lean approach to streamline and standardise internal processes,” said Luke Robbins, managing director of CHI.

Process improvement is a key focus amongst the industry currently with many adopting or enhancing a lean six sigma approach to their manufacturing operations globally, in line with standardising corporate and technical processes.

The company is currently seeing a client-driven market from a senior level (with 15 years+ experience).
However, at the lower end a candidate-driven market is emerging, including operational and engineering profiles with 5-10 years of experience.

The report also provides predictions for the future of recruitment in the industry. Going forward, CHI predicts the senior level requirements to slow over the coming quarter due to restructuring and companies focussing on stabilising. It also expects to see an increase in mid-level management, engineering and operational profiles, especially those highly experienced with multiple skills. A continued focus on corporate level technical profiles with multisite international experience and those with lean six sigma and process efficiency experience to improve effectiveness of newly-acquired and restructured organisations.

To download the whole report, click here.

Published under Cement News