Headhunters scramble to fill executive-level jobs

Employment search firms in the Miami area have felt a high demand to fill jobs in every market throughout the entire area in the past year. Most seeking employees in the Miami area are looking to fill jobs in marketing, hospitality, entertainment, finance and human resources. The high demand for these workers can be attributed to employers looking to fill positions that help amplify employee engagement in a post-covid world.

Across the Miami area, hiring has been going strong in 2022. This is a great improvement from the past two years due to a post-covid world, leading to general recovery in many job markets in Miami.

“I can say that hospitality and entertainment has had and continues to have recovery with additional tourism, the cruise line industry as well,” said Pablo Golfari, market leader of Korn Ferry, a search firm with an office in Brickell. “At the executive level, we’ve seen a lot of focus on finance and accounting. These types of roles continue to be in high demand.”

Robert Half, with offices in Brickell and Blue Lagoon, also reports a high demand all across Miami for financial and accounting specialists.

“There’s lots of demand from clients for highly-skilled people. If you’ve got experience in accounting or financing, you’re in very high demand,” said Chad Leibundguth, district director at Robert Half. “There’s a higher number of open roles today, and that’s certainly true in South Florida.”

Hospitality businesses continue to bounce back in South Florida and search firms have been using their recruiting methods to bring in new talents to those industries.

“While many of the hospitality businesses in Florida restructured to use resources differently in the pandemic, several have invested in new types of talent to support their pipelines moving forward,” said Guy M. Cote, partner and global hospitality and leisure practice lead of Heidrick and Struggles, an employment firm with an office in Coral Gables.

Heidrick and Struggles also cites success in filling CEO and other leadership roles such as president, chief financial officer and chief commercial officer. All these roles have had heightened demand in the Miami area.

Employers have been focusing on recruitment methods and retaining their employees. With the workforce being transformed during the pandemic, there are more opportunities for this.

“Many private equity and other financial institutions have opened offices in South Florida,” said Mr. Cote. “This has allowed flexibility for current employees with an interest in relocating, and opportunities to hire locally. The financial services industry is now one of the most robust in the market.”

Strategies for retaining employees have included employment diversity and employment engagement. This is what has had the most success in the job market rebounding in South Florida. This has also increased the need for roles in the human resources department.

“In a post-covid world, where more emphasis is being done to sort of enhance employee engagement and focus on growth and development, there is a lot of focus on enhancing some of the HR processes to continue that growth,” said Mr. Cote.

Not all jobs have been easily filled. Employers offering most high-level jobs have been having trouble finding employees who meet the skill level required by the position.

“Most of these jobs are hard to fill, especially because organizations are focusing on superior talent,” said Mr. Golfari. “They focus on differentiated talent that can bring an area of sophistication. You’re looking for folks who have been with important mergers or acquisitions. This is typically why finance and HR roles are harder to fill.”

Mr. Golfari also said roles that have to do with digital technology are hard to fill in South Florida as well. Firms offering these roles are also looking for superior talent in digital marketing.

“Agile leadership is a most sought-after quality, but increasingly clients are seeking an array of different skillsets,” said Mr. Cote. “The biggest challenge in filling positions is a disconnect between talent supply and demand. When companies are adamant about a narrowly defined set of particular candidate requirements, we see there is rarely room for tradeoffs.”