The Panel launches redundancy site

Sunday Business Post - Recruitment Section - Mar 29 2009

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Dublin recruiter The Panel has launched a new website offering free advice to individuals who have lost their jobs.

SurvivingRedundancy.ie, launched at the start of the month, also offers paid-for outplacement services to companies managing redundancies.

Sarah Kelly, manager of SurvivingRedundancy.ie, said the site was launched in response to growing demand for outplacement services in the marketplace, in tandem with the recent drop-off in recruitment activity.

In operation since 1987,The Panel provides recruitment services to employers and candidates in the services and legal sectors, funds, banking, IT and accountancy, from its office on Northumberland Road in Dublin.

‘‘The development of the website has really been driven by demand from our key clients, due to the number of redundancies taking place at the moment,” said Kelly. ‘‘We want to diversify our business, as it has slowed down for us on the recruitment side. We want to use our expertise in recruitment to provide a service in a different shape and form, which people need now.”

SurvivingRedundancy.ie includes information on the core financial issues facing people who have been made redundant. Topics include jobseekers’ allowance and benefit entitlements along with pension, tax and mortgage advice. For employers, the issues addressed include treating employees fairly and a guide to short-term working arrangements. The site also offers career , interview and CV pointers.

Kelly said the site, which showcases content provided by The Panel’s managing director Brendan Burgess - who is also managing director of consumer finance site Askabout money.com - has clocked up over 3,000 unique visitors.

‘‘For us, it is a mixture of offering a very comprehensive information source, and also selling outplacement services on the back of that. The information on the site shows that we know what we are talking about and that we are absolutely on hand to deliver outplacement services,” said Kelly.

Kelly joined The Panel in 2004 as head of its legal recruitment division, The Legal Panel. She said the 15 recruiters working with the company were involved in the new range of outplacement services.

‘‘I am still managing the legal side of our recruitment business, but I am also now managing Surviving Redundancy,” she said. ‘‘Our other consultants are working on Surviving Redundancy too. If an individual from a banking background comes to us for outplacement, we can sit them down with our banking recruitment experts to talk about the options.”

Kelly said many of the company’s existing clients had little experience of managing outplacement programmes.

‘‘We have offered advice to companies as they have been growing over the years. Now, they are going through a downsizing period,” she said.

‘‘It is uncharted waters, really, for a lot of people, particularly employers who have not gone through a redundancy process before. We have a lot of market knowledge built up over 22 years of advising people on their careers.”

With its new range of outplacement services, The Panel is targeting potential customers across all sectors.

‘‘We are offering the outplacement services in all the sectors that The Panel recruits for - financial services, legal, funds, banking, IT and accountancy - but also areas in which we do not,’’ Kelly said.

‘‘We are on hand to help people from all sectors, because the elements of our outplacement programme work across the board. Strategic job search, CV design and interview techniques are useful for all sectors. We also offer an occupational psychology service to individuals or companies.”

While overall demand for recruitment is low in the current market, Kelly said The Panel was working on some ‘targeted’ projects.

‘‘It is certainly quieter than this time last year, and I think every recruitment company will tell you the same thing,” she said. ‘‘There are pockets of recruitment going on, but it is hard to say which sectors of the economy are busier. Accountancy continues to be busy for us, and we are doing some overseas work as well in Luxembourg and Britain, which is keeping us ticking along.”

When positions become available, the salaries on offer are much lower than corresponding rates 12 months ago, Kelly said.

‘‘Salaries are down by 10 or 20 per cent, and candidates are being realistic about the situation. We are seeing that in all sectors. I have seen salaries come down by €20,000.”

Kelly said she could not predict recruitment trends for the remainder of the year, given the continued instability in the economy.

‘‘The situation is changing every month, so it is hard to know. If the market picks up again, and we all hope that it does, then recruitment will be the most important part of The Panel’s business,” she said.

‘‘If the markets do not pick up, then the outplacement part will probably be busier. At the moment, it is a mixed bag.”