Specialisation and steady growth predicted for Latvian recruitment market, “Dienas Bizness”
Riga, Latvia – As the recruitment market in Latvia continues to grow, recruitment and Executive Search players strive to find their own niche and focus, while expanding their scope internationally.
Moreover, certain specific recruitment services (for example, temping agencies) could become more popular as attitudes change toward flexible employment relationships. Although the agency model is still unusual in Latvia, these companies have significantly grown, proving that more and more entrepreneurs see the potential and benefits of this service. According to recent data, recruitment companies that focus on shipping are also doing well in Latvia.
2015 saw significant growth for the Executive Search firm Pedersen & Partners, and 2016 has been a very successful year as well. The majority of the firm’s projects are international—for example, helping Baltic companies to find suitable managers for a new branch office in Armenia or Canada.
“Over the last few years, we have taken on more and more projects like these. It is great to work with our Baltic entrepreneurs as they become more ambitious and seek out more opportunities. We also have many projects with investors from regions such as Western Europe, the US and Israel, who have business interests in Latvia, the Baltics, and Poland. These clients usually choose Latvia or the Baltics to develop support function centres, because our local markets are small and growing slowly. The uncertain situation with Russia means that Baltic countries are seldom chosen as a bridge between East and West. For this reason, there are relatively few simple and understandable projects in which Western investors want to strengthen their businesses in Latvia,” says Evita Lune, Partner, the Country Manager for Latvia and Head of the Retail Practice Group at Pedersen & Partners.
As the demand for professionals grows in the expanding finance, medicine and real estate technologies sectors (FinTech, MedTech, PropTech), Pedersen & Partners Latvia is forming a separate competence centre in this particular niche. “We plan to develop this sector globally, as well as in the Baltics. Moreover, companies in this sector usually consider their business development on a global scale,” Ms. Lune continues.
Despite the challenging geopolitical situation, Latvian entrepreneurs in the recruitment field are cautiously optimistic. More than 100 companies are currently authorised to deal with recruitment matters in Latvia. According to the survey conducted by Dienas Bizness, Latvian recruitment entrepreneurs admit that while competition among recruiters exists, it is not especially tough as the recruitment market is highly segmented with every player having its own niche. However, companies that focus on one or only a few countries are unlikely to be successful in the long term. “If consultants in any field refuse to specialise and develop their knowledge, they cannot expect growth or development. Our industry is no exception – it is changing due to technology, as a great number of searches are executed by algorithm. This means that there is more potential for Executive Search firms where consultants are focused on developing expertise in specific fields rather than mechanically executing universal and technical recruitment procedures,” Ms. Lune concludes.
Evita Lune joined Pedersen & Partners in 2005; she is a Partner, the Country Manager for Latvia and Head of the Retail Practice Group. As Partner, Ms. Lune also takes on regional oversight, and through completing numerous senior level assignments, Ms. Lune has established strong cooperation with clients in Poland, the Baltics, Scandinavia, Russia, and CIS across such sectors as: FinTech, Consumer Goods, Retail, Pharmaceutical, Manufacturing, and the Professional Services sectors. Her previous experience includes three years with the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga as the Executive MBA Program Director and six years with Shell in international and regional marketing management functions in Riga, Budapest and Brussels.
Pedersen & Partners is a leading international Executive Search firm. We operate 56 wholly owned offices in 52 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia & the Americas. Our values Trust, Relationship and Professionalism apply to our interaction with clients as well as executives. More information about Pedersen & Partners is available at www.pedersenandpartners.com
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