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A recent survey has revealed that hiring intentions for accounting roles are currently going strong, despite industry challenges and skill gaps.
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Strong appetite for accounting recruits, research shows
31 March 2017
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Hudson recently released the results of its latest Talent Insights report, with a specific focus on the accounting and finance sector.
The survey revealed that permanent hiring expectations across the accounting and finance sectors are strong in H1 2017.
Of all survey respondents, 30.8 per cent indicated an intention to increase their headcount, 57.6 per cent indicated an intention to maintain their current headcount, and only 11.7 per cent indicated an intention to decrease their headcount.
The percentage of employers looking to increase headcount varied state-to-state, with the Australian Capital Territory coming in first with 45.6 per cent.
The ACT was followed by Victoria with 34.2 per cent of employers intending to hire, South Australia with 33.6 per cent, New South Wales with 30.4 per cent, Queensland with 27.8 per cent and Western Australia with 24.2 per cent.
Hudson’s Victoria general manager Kristen Mangelsdorf spoke to Accountants Daily about why the states are ordered this way.
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“It’s actually around what's historically happened. The ACT has come off a bit of a hiring freeze around government and elections, so I think that that’s kicked back strongly because of a timing thing more than anything,” Ms Mangelsdorf said.
“Same with SA, if you look at SA their demand was pretty low for a number of consecutive quarters, and it’s just kicked back more than anything.”
“It’s always interesting between NSW and Victoria. NSW has consistently strong demand and so any increase is coming off a higher base which might explain why it's number four.”
While intentions are high, Ms Mangelsdorf said employers are facing challenges in trying to find employees that have all the skills they require.
“I think what's really critical to organisations that are hiring accountants are the analytical skills and a broader commercial understanding as well,” she said.
“Most organisations have moved from wanting an accountant to just do the numbers, to actually wanting an accountant who will partner with the business and have some really good commercial acumen and some really strong analytical skills.”
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