NEW YORK CITY—It's said that small business is the engine that drives economic growth, and at the moment this appears to be the case with commercial real estate hiring, as well. SelectLeaders' latest Job Barometer reports that first-quarter postings of single job opportunities from real estate companies, pointing to smaller and more entrepreneurial firms, constituted the majority of listings for the first time ever.

The trend seen by SelectLeaders, which powers the GlobeSt.com Career Center, has emerged lately. Over the past five years, job opportunities in commercial real estate have been driven by “the larger companies based in gateway and first tier cities doing bulk hiring,” says David Funk, managing editor for the SelectLeaders Job Barometer. “But over recent months we've seen a significant uptick in small companies based in second- and third-tier markets looking to hire single, multi-talented individuals.”

While small business hiring has been an emerging story in the economy generally, for CRE it depends equally on where the hiring is taking place. Highly competitive pricing in gateway cities and the ensuing search for value has resulted in secondary and tertiary markets now experiencing momentum, with the momentum reflected in hiring by small companies.

“By one estimate, 80% of all real estate companies are 15 people or less, and we are now seeing that segment more aggressively hiring,” says Susan Phillips, CEO of SelectLeaders. Meanwhile, Funk observes, the big real estate firms continue to get bigger along with growth at the small, entrepreneurial level while the mid-sized companies continue to be squeezed. Although CRE job postings overall have jumped up during Q1, they still lag the pace set by spring hiring season in 2015 and 2016.

Smaller companies frequently lack a human resources department, and as a result they're increasingly looking to search firms and outsourced recruiting capabilities for support. “We've noticed an increase in smaller real estate companies reaching out for assistance in their search for talent, with more requests for our ProSelect 'professional recruiter' services as the seller's market makes talent acquisition increasingly challenging,” says Phillips. Click here for the complete Job Barometer.

Instant Insights /

Smaller Firms Lead CRE Hiring in Q1

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