Good news about the IR job market in Germany greeted delegates who traveled to Frankfurt’s Jumeriah hotel for the IR 2017 conference in January.
The number of IR jobs advertised in Germany rose by 5 percent in 2016, according to research carried out by Cometis, the IR services firm, which released the findings at the event. While modest in size, the rise compares favorably with the 20 percent decline in advertised positions recorded by Cometis researchers between 2014 and 2015.
A second survey presented at the conference added to the careers cheer: a report by Korn Ferry finds three quarters of German IROs have enjoyed a salary increase during the last two years. Korn Ferry adds that IR salaries increased by an average of 8 percent between 2015 and 2016.
Michael Diegelmann, CEO of Cometis, says the IR job market is looking up even though initial public offerings remain few and far between. ‘Everyone knows the job market has changed and more people are moving around,’ he says.
Now in its fifth year, the IR 2017 conference, hosted by Cometis and Patrick Kiss, head of IR at Deutsche EuroShop, is primarily for German IROs. This year saw a record high of 198 registrants, with just over 50 percent being corporate IROs, says Diegelmann.
Aside from the jobs market, other topics up for discussion included the economic outlook since Brexit and the US elections, how ESG drives stock-picking decisions and the growing role of online wealth managers in the investment food chain.
