It is now well and truly March 2021 but it feels like January 2021 was such a long time ago. In terms of demand for actuarial resources, 2020 proved to be a lot more resilient relative to our expectations at the start of the lockdown. Work from home was the norm and Microsoft Teams meetings became the only way to engage with clients, candidates and between our own SKL team. However, 2021 is feeling very different and we are already noticing certain things going back to pre-COVID days but it appears some things seem to have changed forever.
We are noticing that the city is getting full again but nowhere near the capacity of pre-COVID days. With the exception of some companies, most of our clients have their staff working in the office 2-3 days a week. Coffees and lunches are slowly back on the agenda which is heaven sent especially for the social birds in the recruitment and talent search space but no doubt everybody finds it fun.
The current job market is very healthy; we don’t remember being this busy before! The actuarial teams are busy all over and the actuarial job market is thriving. We are already noticing an uptick in salaries and the demand for actuarial talent pool seems deep. May long it continue…
Some things will never be the same again though. The wider consensus seems to be that working 5 days in the office is going to be thing of the past and the new norm will continue to be 2-3 days in the office and working from home during the rest of the week.
On the other hand, the international flow of actuarial talent into and out of Australia will slowly resume soon and given Australia’s history as a net importer of actuarial talent it should help the local demand. Of course, for those Australian actuaries planning a stint abroad, opportunities should open in the second half of the year as the underlying demand for actuaries appears to be strong all over the world.
With all this being said, the SKL team wishes you a safe and successful 2021!
