Onrec.com reports, according to the latest quarterly State of the Executive Search Industry report by the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC), executive search industry revenues increased 14% over the previous quarter and 18% over the previous year. New searches worldwide were up 6% from Q1 2006 and the average revenue per consultant rose 14% from Q1 to Q2 2006, a sharp rise from the previous quarterly increase of 3%.

Commenting on these figures, AESC President Peter Felix noted, "Executive search industry revenues continue to build momentum with global figures consistently increasing quarter over quarter and year over year. By year end we expect that most member firms will be reporting significant increases over 2005."

Industry Trends
All reported industries experienced an increase over the previous quarter, with the exception of the Industrial sector, which revealed a 3.8% decrease (in contrast to the previous quarter in which this sector accounted for the largest increase). The industries experiencing the largest quarterly increase of searches in Q2 2006 were Non-Profit (+34.7%) and Financial (+17.8%); both figures more than double the previous quarterly increase for these sectors.

Consistent with previous quarters, the Financial sector captured the largest share of number of searches started as compared to all other reported industries, with 26.4% of the market. The Industrial sector followed with the second largest share, 21%. Consumer Products (16.8%), Technology (15.7%), Life Sciences and Healthcare (12%), Non-Profit (4.6%), and the Professional Services (2.2%) sectors round out the industry breakdown.

Regional Trends
North America saw a minor quarterly increase (+0.8%) in the number of searches started in contrast to the previous quarter on quarter increase of 13.1%. Europe experienced an increase of 3.4% in searches started. Asia-Pacific revealed a significant increase of 18.9%, in comparison to a previous quarterly drop (-3.7%). Central/South America witnessed a 13.4% increase in searches started in Q2 2006.

European Market Share
UK searches accounted for 29.9% of the total European market, a 5.4% quarterly decrease. The number of searches started in Germany also decreased (-1.7%) from the previous quarter, with Germany capturing 13.8% of the total market. Similarly, France saw a quarterly drop (-3.9%) in searches following a previous rise of 7%, resulting in a 9.5% Q2 2006 market share for France.

This data was collected from a sample of AESC member search firms representing the activity of over 1,200 executive search consultants in 42 countries worldwide. AESC access to job search data positions this report as a leading indicator of the future worldwide job market and a barometer of hiring trends in key market sectors.