TMS Asia-Pacific General Manager Australia/New Zealand, Sally Matheson has advised cautious employers looking to ‘hedge’ their staffing requirements in 2012 that now would be a very good time to be recruiting.

Early indicators, she said, point towards an ongoing recovery for the country’s tourism and hospitality sector with the recruitment specialist enjoying one of its best starts to a new year in recent times.

As a result, Ms Matheson said she would actively encourage companies to start planning their manpower needs for 2012.

“We finished off the year with a very uncharacteristic and very marked increase in permanent job orders which kept our Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane team kept busy handling enquiries from clients,” she said.

“This surge has continued into the new year.

Ïts interesting to note that some companies are watching the Eurozone situation very closely and the impact it could have on this marketplace.

“But based on the ongoing business coming through the door - both from employers looking to increase head count and a good number of mid-range to executive candidates wanting to know what’s around - we are anticipating what we hope will be a very positive 2012 for our industry and team building accordingly to meet the demand.”

Ms Matheson said role-wise, job vacancies on offer were across the board but it was  interesting to note the number of clients who were continuing to put out feelers for business development managers.