With the threat of a double dip recession still present, the demand for talented finance professionals is growing. Business journalist Tim Cooper explains more.
A double dip in 2012 would in many cases increase the need for talented finance professionals, say recruitment consultants.
‘We are experiencing significant demand for qualified accountants and a severe candidate-short market spanning interim and permanent,’ says Matt Weston, director at Robert Half.
‘In the UK, we have experienced significant growth. Continental Europe continues to fire, especially places like Germany, France and Belgium – though we are not too big in Spain and Italy, which have their own challenges. Australia and New Zealand are doing well, as are Hong Kong and mainland China. In the Middle East demand is also strong – as a global business, we need more candidates.’
Mark Pamplin, section manager at Hays Globalink, focuses mainly on Australia and New Zealand. ‘The lion’s share of our business is in Western Australia on the back of the long-term resources and mining boom,’ he says. ‘Project accountants or site-based accountants have become attractive and CIMA is a valid qualification in that sector. These would have three to five years’ post-qualification experience.
‘Business analysts are always in strong demand – we want them to have lots of ERP experience – plus management accountants and financial accountants with good compliance experience.’
Pamplin says the New Zealand market is also starting to rebound after the trauma of the Christchurch earthquake. ‘2011 has been very sluggish,’ he says. ‘But the last three months have picked up, particularly in Christchurch, where there is a lot on the construction and property sector of course, and with that a lot of back office work.
‘For those that are interested, the big four and large practices expect to be hiring quite aggressively around February and March 2012,’ adds Pamplin. ‘It is an excellent training ground for CIMA members if they want to get into the large corporates in Australia and New Zealand, though they would want some years of commerce on their CV as well.’
Positive expectations
Weston says the threat of recession is placing accountants in higher regard in companies. ‘As markets tighten, people are looking at finance to help drive the business. They are using accountants more in bids and tenders.
‘Demand is coming from companies trying to win business. Plus companies are really lean and workloads are going up; positions are stretched so they do need more people.’
Weston says that, contrary to expectation, financial services firms are hiring, as are business services and manufacturing. However, he adds that there is a notable slowing in the public sector and that there might be more interim requirements coming from that area in 2012.
‘In 2012 our clients are anticipating more projects, hiring people in to do systems upgrades, regulatory changes, and bidding for contracts,’ he says. ‘It all seems positive. There are some businesses making redundancies, but good people in those businesses are also finding opportunities.
‘People are looking for CIMA accountants for systems implementation, financial analysis, management accounting and reporting – business partnering and stakeholder management are key areas.’
Recession proof roles
Nik Pratap, national director at Hays Senior Finance, covers the UK and Ireland. He says economic uncertainty is having an effect on the temporary jobs market where there has been a marked growth.
‘People need bodies but don’t want the head count,’ he says. ‘But we have learned over the last three or four years that some areas seem to be recession proof: taxation, internal audit, treasury and financial accounting. There has been a slight slow down in banking and financial services, but manufacturing has been slightly up.’
Tough economics have meant that qualified accountants are also popular candidates for roles in other parts of the business – such as general management, procurement or sales. This in turn is helping boost demand for accounting places. ‘An exciting area for us is newly qualifieds,’ says Pratap. ‘They won’t find any shortage of opportunities in the new year. Demand is exceeding supply.’
However, he adds a note of caution: ‘In recruitment, the first area we all have our eyes on is the small to medium sized business sector. There has been a considerable shift in the last three years – more of our placements have been in blue chips rather than SMEs. I don’t know how confident that sector will be next year. Many roles are being covered on a short-term, unsatisfactory basis and they need to recruit or reach breaking point in 2012.
‘During the credit crunch, one of the first reactions of many businesses was to save costs by reducing head count. But they have struggled to recover as quickly as they wanted to because of a lack of skilled personnel. If we slip into another recession, it won’t have the same hit on headcounts as it did in 2008.’
According to Pratap, confidence is rising faster in Ireland than in the UK, perhaps because it is coming from a lower base, given the economic situation there over the last few years.
‘Things are picking up at a very good rate and there will be more growth and increased opportunities for qualified accountants,’ he says. ‘We have beefed up our spacing for senior finance markets in Ireland in anticipation of that. The country will see better times in 2012.’
Overall, prospects seem remarkably upbeat for CIMA members in the year ahead.
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