Accountants seek new opportunities as vacancies continue to rise

Research by financial recruitment specialist ECHM has shown that a third of commercial organisations expect their finance hiring activity to increase over the next twelve months, indicating continued market confidence. This comes at a time when the number of new accountancy job vacancies in England has already experienced significant growth during the first half of 2006 and the most recent official GDP figures show UK Q2 output was the strongest recorded in the last two years .

In brief:
The next 12 months: 2006/2007

32% of companies expect hiring activity to increase over the next twelve months; only 12% expect a decrease

45% of companies believe it will become more difficult to find good accountancy professionals in the coming months; only 9% expect the availability of good candidates to increase

23% of organisations are implementing new initiatives to encourage individuals to join their organisation

While 21% of accountants have voiced a desire to move jobs within the next twelve months

Of these, 25% stated this was for better career opportunities as opposed to only 16% who stated they would move for better financial rewards

The last quarter: Q2 2006
London & South East:

Job opportunities increased by a third (35%) compared to Q2 2005

Candidate numbers were down a fifth (21%) compared to Q2 2005

Yorkshire & North East

Job opportunities increased by a quarter (24.9%) compared to Q2 2005

Candidate numbers dropped by a quarter (26%) compared to Q2 2005

Manchester & North West

Job opportunities increased by a third (35%) compared to Q2 2005

Candidate numbers remained relatively steady, up 3% compared to Q2 2005

The research was carried out as part of ECHMís quarterly Regional Recruitment Index, which tracks the flow of financial job opportunities and finance professionals seeking employment within commerce and public practice firms across London & South East, Manchester & North West and Yorkshire & North East of England. The research took place in June 2006 and 690 accountants across the UK were questioned.

Accountants on the move
While a third of commercial firms surveyed expect to increase their finance staff headcount over the next 12 months, 21% of accountants stated they planned to move jobs over the same period. The research revealed that accountants in Manchester & North West are more likely than those in London & South East to move within the next 12 months with 30% looking to change roles, compared to 15% of London accountants and 18% in Yorkshire & North East. London-based accountants also appear to be largely motivated by the desire to move up the career ladder (36%), rather than by purely financial factors (13%).

In turn, only 2.7% of accountants in London & South East cited job insecurity as the reason they were planning to move jobs in 2006 compared to 6.2% in Yorkshire & North East and 5.9% in Manchester & North West. These figures highlight continued confidence in the finance jobs market.

Despite the fact that a significant number of accountants intend to change jobs over the next 12 months, availability will remain tight as this will create as many vacancies as it will fill. Those accountants who are planning to change employers in the near future are in an ideal position to take advantage of the growth in opportunities and in turn make their next step up the career ladder.

John Hunter, Chief Executive, ECHM comments:
ìItís no surprise that we have witnessed strong finance jobs growth over the last 12 months. However, it is encouraging to see that despite recent stock market fluctuations, growth looks set to continue. This underlying confidence in the accountancy recruitment market is further demonstrated by the fact that 21% of accountants are intending to change jobs during the next year.î

Chart 1: New finance jobs by region from Q2 2005 ñ Q2 2006



Y-axis represents the number of new finance jobs measured against a base point of 50

Chart 2: New candidates by region from Q2 2005 ñ Q2 2006



Y-axis represents the number of new candidates measured against a base point of 50

Dealing with demand
The continued contraction of candidate supply in Q2 2006 combined with finance job growth across the country has meant that the competition to attract and retain experienced accountancy professionals is still running extremely high. However, when employers were asked if they were implementing any new initiatives to encourage individuals to join their company, surprisingly 68% responded in the negative.

Of the 23% of organisations that are being proactive in their pursuit of talented finance professionals, none are relying solely on financial rewards but are implementing a range of strategies to attract the individuals they require.

Several companies cited employer branding as increasingly important in the war for talent and many are raising their profiles through increased marketing activities including advertising, public relations, networking events as well as promoting internal referral schemes. Training and development programmes have also been brought to the fore as organisations ensure that they can offer real career development opportunities for potential employees. This is essential given that 25% of accountants surveyed listed career progression as their primary reason for wanting to change roles.

John Hunter, Chief Executive, ECHM comments:
ìTo recruit and retain high calibre accountants, companies need to be able to demonstrate that they can offer staff a clear career path and must look beyond the basic salary and bonus scheme to providing a wide range of benefits to employees. It will be those companies that most successfully adapt their attraction and retention strategies in this candidate-driven environment that will thrive in the war for talent.î