What are the hottest jobs for 2008? Economy round-up

Learning development managers, tax accountants and financial controllers – these are the very unglamorous, but oh-so in-demand jobs of 2008, according to a survey of more than 600 recruiters by human resource firm Talent2.

Neil Galvin, practice manager at Talent2, says the top 10 jobs that will be hugely in demand in 2008 are (with average salary):

1. Learning and development managers ($80,000 to $160,000).
2. Tax accountants ($120,000 to $140,000).
3. Financial controllers ($150,000 to $180,000).
4. Internal communications managers ($100,000 to $200,000).
5. Corporate social responsibility managers ($120,000 to $180,000).
6. FMCG brand managers ($100,000 to $135,000).
7. Solutions architects ($160,000 to $200,000).
8. Engineers – all types (up to $300,000).
9. Security managers – IT ($150,000 to $250,000).
10. Marketing campaign managers ($80,000 to $100,000).

But while the top 10 will be in particular demand, there will be pressure on salaries across the board in 2008 as the skills shortage takes its toll, Galvin says.

His view is supported by new labour figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing that unemployment dropped 0.1% to 4.3% in December.

A 25,000 drop in the number of people looking for work, a 6300 increase in full-time employment and 13,800 increase in part-time employment were behind the improved figure.

Higher wages resulting from the tighter labour market are a key factor in Australia’s increasingly troubling inflation outlook. A January survey by the Melbourne Institute found that consumers now expect inflation to hit a very high 4.4% in 2008, up from 4.1% in the December survey.

Strong retail demand is also feeding into inflation. Reserve Bank of Australia data released today shows spending by consumers on credit cards rose 1.5% to $41.92 billion in November 2007, up from $41.28 billion in the previous month. The value of purchases in November was $17.25 billion, down from $17.69 billion in October.