Australian employers are coming back from holidays to find the return of high employment. In December job advertisements spiked – in a trend unseen before. Traditionally job ads over Christmas are dominated by casual and seasonal roles (gift wrapping at the mall, anyone?). Yet this past December recruitment advertisements increased 2.5% with an 18.5% increase in advertising and media. (See The Sydney Morning Herald.)

Dial back three years and you’ll recall the pre-crisis period. At that stage I was in a similar role at another firm (they who shall not be mentioned). I received a CV from a recruiter who enthusiastically recommended this bright candidate. She was unique and very qualified. And with 18 months experience she wanted a base salary of $75,000.

Now recruiters are human so I called and suggested the 4 key is right below the 7 key on the numeric keypad. Wasn’t this a typo?

Turns out the young candidate wasn’t the only enthusiastic one. No, the recruiter assured me, that was the salary expectation and once I met the young woman I would understand. On principle I refused the meeting.

In public relations we walk a razor-thin line. We have an obligation to provide a fair and equitable salary to our professionals. Yet clients are demanding the best services for the most reasonable fees. And after the horror year of 2008-09, we need to re-build and re-invest in technology, training and more.

Australia is also a talent pool where Asian companies love to swim. Singapore for three years? Seoul for a posting? Hong Kong for a change? With the growth in Mandarin classes even an in-land China posting is attractive to new professionals.

2010 will be a competitive year as the economic growth of Australia is compounded by the increased demand for talented people. I plan to play and play hard – but it’s never going to be a place where I’ll over-pay for 18 months experience!