Robert Walters, the recruitment consultancy within the Professional Services Market (Legal, Accountancy, IT, Finance, Sales and Marketing) announces a February 2007 recruitment update
Ongoing skills shortage. Demand is significantly outweighing supply.
Large professional services houses will be under huge pressure to retain London staff this year. Two specific factors will see a war breaking out amongst big firms (packages and tax regimes):
- Many houses will struggle to retain staff not happy with their packages. The number of people expressing dissatisfaction with their overall packages is almost 20% higher than last year.
- Significant premiums are being offered to attract the top talent overseas, especially to Asia. For example, a Finance Director, earning 250,000 per year in London could be offered between 300,000 and 500,000 per year for a job in the Far East (exclusive of housing and schooling benefits).
- The more favourable tax regimes abroad are also a contributory factor. There is certainly a fear that the UKís tax burden will get worse in the next year. 30% more candidates cite tax as a concern in their career assessment compared to last year.
- 25% more people than last year are being interviewed in London for positions overseas. Again, more favourable tax regimes abroad are an increasingly contributory factor.
Professional firms increasingly see Eastern Europe, South Africa and even South America as fertile ground for recruitment to make up the skills gap. Eastern Europe, in particular, with the accession of countries like Poland, Hungary and Romania into the EU, provide good opportunities for recruiting.
Within Finance; Corporate Finance / M and A activity continues to be as strong as ever, with deal rates 25% ahead of last year. Some firms are offering increases in basic salaries of up to 40%, with a senior position commanding a basic annual salary of over 200,000. One US investment bank is understood to be looking to double its London headcount this year.
The Robert Walters Recruitment Report
Current state of the professional services recruitment market
