Shipbroker and Chartering Employment and Salary update

And its not all bad news!

Below is the latest from one of the world premier shipping placement agencies. They do an impressive half yearly report which is just in. Thanks Faststream!

check out their website at www.faststream.com

Key points for employment

• the short term outlook for 2012 looks positive
• half of farsteams shipping clients are looking at hiring new talent over the next 12 months
• Shipowners in particular are on the lookout for new staff - the biggest demand is for vessel operations and support stafffor all types of vessels
• The weakening of valuation and the unavailability of credit has meant that private money is being sought by more and more shipping companies. Large and small funds are stepping up to the plate.
• A number of banks, funds, other financial instutions are outsourcing their technical managment of vessel functions but are keeping the commercial roles in-house. Financial institutions are very particular about who they take on are are prepared to pay well and offer great packages to entice the best.
• The rise in non traditional shipowning is seeing an increase in work for shipmanagement companies who can cover this technical / knowledge and resourse gap.

Geography

• In Asia support staff (operation, postfixture) are hard to find and salaries remain bouyant and infact are growing. Salaries for commercial shipping execustives in Singapore in particular are soft and in many cases have retreated to 2007-2008 levels (which is still pretty good...but their is a trend)
• Singapore continues to dominate the Asian scene..
• In the Americas the hiring freeze is beginning to thaw. There is a healthy outlook for mid tier commercial shipping people especially in the Northeast and GOM areas. Central and South American markets are expanding as shipowners and brokers look to take advantage of this growing market.
• Europe is steady. The good news is that although most european companies are looking to Asia and Latin America for expansion, they are not looking at reducing their Eurocentic operations.

So overall Faststream are painting a positive picture despite the market gloom. There is merit here for sure. Market shocks like the one we are currently having, can be a time of renewal and growth.

Whats also interesting is the insight to the structural changes going on in shipping.

See its not all bad news! As long as we have a sun rise (with dolphins) there is opportunity!

Cheers
The Virtual Shipbroker