North's reasons to be cheerful
Jun 4 2009 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal
At Newcastle’s Croft Technology, its 100-strong workforce have not been completely immune to the effects of the credit crunch and more recently the country’s plunge into recession.
On the back of a record year for the company in 2007, it was able to avoid job cuts once the global economic outlook darkened the following year and more recently the only sacrifice staff have made has been a reduction in available overtime.
Managing director Phil Renton said the findings of the KBW survey are not replicated in the North East, where things are above the national average, although he believes it is difficult to judge whether we are over the worst.
He said: “The uncertainties are still prevalent, although the late evening news section called Job Watch is showing signs of slowing down.
“The difficulty we are faced with regarding recruitment is that we are reluctant to add to our staff numbers when we win new business, when the longevity of existing employees is outside our control when existing clients take a downturn.”
While the North East may be faring better than some other regions in fighting off the effects of the recession, on a national level the industry continues to be hit by mass job losses.
This week computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard announced plans to cut 700 jobs from a plant near Glasgow.
According to Teesside IT giant Onyx however, the market could have finally reached the low point and things could be set to pick up.
CEO Neil Stephenson said: “I have not actually seen too many pay cuts being enforced but the volume of good quality people has lowered salary expectations and as such is a natural function of supply and demand.
“My view is that we are not getting any worse, but recovery is not here yet either. I think we may have reached a low and recovery may come towards the end of the year, but there will be a big lag in terms of how long that recovery takes to have an impact on employment levels.”
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FOCUS AND DETERMINATION
FIVE recession-beating tips for tech firms, according to Middlesbrough-based IT company Onyx Group:
1) Look after your customers as 80% of business should come from them.
2) Adapt the sales pitch to reflect the customers’ needs.
3) Make sure the sales team work harder with new business – every penny is harder to secure.
4) Be tougher with sales people – make sure they deliver value and that targets and expectations are achieved.
5) Don’t drop a ball; no own goals – focus.
