Great to feature in the July 2021 edition of Business Plus where Jonathan Olden, Managing Partner, Barden Cork gave an update on what Barden has been up to and an overview of the market during the past 12 months…

Recruitment agency Barden used the Covid pandemic as an opportunity to rebrand and to reimagine what its future in Cork might hold. The company, which has practices in Cork and Dublin, also expanded its team.

“We welcomed Killian O’Leary as partner in our IT recruitment practice, while Fionnán O’Sullivan took on the mantle of managing partner for our financial services recruitment practice nationally,” says Jonathan Olden, managing partner. “Over the coming year, we will continue to build out our Cork practice so as to enhance our ability to serve our key clients right across their organisation.”

Cork’s plethora of life sciences and tech companies helped the region to weather the Covid storm well, according to Olden. “They enjoyed a certain degree of insulation from the commercial impacts of the pandemic. The majority of companies adapted quickly to virtual hiring and on-boarding. While there was a significant drop in activity in Q2 2020, the market recovered quickly and H1 2021 has been extremely busy.

“Accounting, fund services, legal and IT professionals have all been in strong demand over the past 12 months. Heading into H2 2021, demand for talent is far outstripping supply. This is resulting in increased competition for candidates and salary inflation.”

Olden says that the main growth driver for Barden over the last year has been the firm’s gradual shift away from contingent-based recruitment towards primarily working on exclusive (sole agency) assignments with clients, while also acting as exclusive agents for candidates locally, and for those looking to return home to Cork from Dublin and overseas. “This subtle but fundamental shift in recruitment methodologies has enabled us to deliver higher service levels and outcomes for all our stakeholders.”

Olden adds: “Flexibility, extrinsic and intrinsic reward, and ‘how it feels’ to work with a particular business are all high on the agenda for candidates.

“The companies that can rise to the challenge of providing for all of these will be the ones that attract and retain the best people. For those who cannot, the next 18 months will prove very challenging indeed.”

Source: Business Plus July 2021