More opportunistic investors recruiting for distress situations

Skills shortages exist in the real estate sector and firms are having to adopt more innovative approaches to recruitment in order to fill vacancies.

“Demand for talent in certain industry or market segments is so high that client needs to be more flexible in terms of hiring,” said Christoph Hartmann, managing partner and head of real estate and construction section at german executive search and leadership advisory firm Deininger Consulting.

“If you are focusing on logistics and you need a construction manager you have the chance to get a great construction manager out of, for example, retail. Clients are more flexible in terms of choosing those candidates,” he told Real Asset Insight’s Richard Betts.

“We also have clients who focus more on other industries so, for example, for finance roles or sometimes acquisition roles, candidates can come out of other industries. Clients are demanding that we show them talent from other more innovative industries.”

The complexity of recruitment is also increasing because of the need for specific skills.

“There’s a high higher level of specialism so candidates need to be more specialised in certain asset classes. “

He said that recently, especially following the pandemic, the two “winners” were residential, including micro living, and logistics. “Clients are specialising more in winning talent from those market segments.”

Forthcoming trends are likely to include increased demand for skills in handling distressed asset situations, Hartmann said.

“I expect this more next year or probably in two years time, especially in the private equity world. It is is preparing to hire talent for distressed assets and also distressed finance,” he said. “Investors with an opportunistic approach will probably be faced with a high level of market chances in the next two to three years.”

Click on the video to watch the full interview or listen to the podcast below.