Firms suffer shortage of quality job seekers
Recruiters of finance staff exepct to ramp up their efforts over the next year but are suffering from a lack of choice of quality individuals
Nearly one half (45%) of UK accounting firms expect to increase their
activity over the next 12 months, but warn that it will be tougher to recruit
the right people.
A survey by recruiter ECHM found that 45% of respondent expect to recruit
more heavily in the next year with a further 39% expecting to maintain
recruitment levels.
However, 54% are finding it tougher to recruit the right people than they did
a year earlier.
‘As the war for finance talent shows no signs of abating, companies are
looking beyond basic salary to more innovative and proactive methods for
attracting the very best talent,’ said Kirsten MacLeod, operations director of
ECHM. ‘They are working hard to raise the profile of their employer brands and
improve the overall employee experience.’
The survey found that firms were looking to improve the whole employee
offering, rather than merely using salary hikes as a lure. This included better
career progression planning, options for flexible working and improving the
office culture.
‘This move by a number of accountancy firms to further improve their brand
reputation and raise their work life balance credentials is particularly
interesting, clearly they are listening to the candidate population that salary
increases in isolation are not enough to secure key finance hires in this
competitive market place,’ added MacLeod.
Further reading:
Informa’s finance boss quits after Datamonitor deal