Gold medal or an ice bath?

As we approach the Olympian heights of summer (!) in the UK we thought you might appreciate some search market feedback.

To give the current status - it is busy but not at gold medal levels, so let’s say vying for a place in the final! There is a distinct lack of confidence around and what confidence there is undermined by Greek and Spanish competitive efforts. Especially ironic as Greece invented the games, but dear me, what a ponderous and perhaps economically illustrative tableau was the generation of the Olympic flame. Never seen anything quite so appalling!

There is life though. Top competitions are expected to be in multichannel retail and “digital” whatever and wherever that is. Financial services are a curate’s egg and whilst some sectors are flat, others are buoyant. On balance there is life for the IT professional in FS, but they are only likely to get to bronze as the salary squeeze on the sector bites harder.

Leisure, entertainment and hospitality are enjoying a good run in the outside lanes, perhaps beating records for the first time in years as the social media training and web 2.0 opportunities propel their growth. Regal and Olympian crowds in London do not hurt and rain drives people in from the BBQ or picnic.

Those goliaths of competition in supermarkets are variably a bit sore after years of running as fast as they can, and some remedial treatment by coaches will be expected – massages are necessary.

Web competitors are a mixed bag as there is nervousness that their rapid rise up the form guide in recent years is in fact an illusion caused by a form of ‘blood doping’ (ridiculous hype and expectations by investor community seeking to inflate the return on other investments). I think we shall see samples being sent for analysis!

TV and media coverage on the Olympics will also (please God) show that the UK is about as savvy as anyone else in media-land so that maybe that will awaken some fishing trips in the pool from overseas for UK talent.

CIO and CTO are still in demand so should enjoy a spirited summer but the real winners are going to be the ones who can handle the Decathlon of skills required today. Pentathlon is no longer enough.

So a few gold chances, a fair bit of silver but more bronze and “just made the final” likely.