Talent Shortage Helps Shield Executives from Unemployment

According to the March 2008 ExecuNet Recruiter Confidence Index (RCI) survey of 118 executive recruiters, 52 percent are "confident" or "very confident" the executive employment market will improve during the next six months -- up slightly from 51 percent in February. Seventy-two percent of survey respondents expect at least a 10 percent increase in search assignments during this period of time.

"Economic uncertainty has not put executive job growth on hold," says Mark Anderson, president of ExecuNet. "While demand for executive talent may be increasing at a slower pace than it was just one year ago, recruiting and retaining effective leaders remains a challenge for most companies."

Introduced in May 2003, the Recruiter Confidence Index is based on a monthly survey of executive recruiters conducted by ExecuNet.