Financial crisis affects jobs

'Employers and job seekers alike are understandably nervous given the current environment. Until we see some stability in global financial markets, this nervousness is likely to continue and may have a negative impact on the historically low unemployment levels', he said.

Recruiters and analysts expect companies to slow down on hiring until mid 2009, when it is anticipated market conditions will improve.

Alan Hansell, analyst at the Intelligent Business Research Services said in an interview with The Australian, that the job market would improve for contractors as companies are becoming reluctant to commit to permanent employees. 'Organisations will be conservative in their budgets for the next 12 months, I would think there would be hiring freezes and not as many graduates taken on', he said.

What the crisis means for your career

The tightening of the labour market will inevitably increase competition for jobs. It is now even more critical that applicants prepare quality job application documents such as resumes and cover letters. Working to established design guidelines and making sure the content is easy to read is critical to success. Career FAQs can help job seekers ensure their job applications are professional with our extensive range of free sample resumes and cover letters.