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The big end of town can outbid for talent and it’s already having an impact, says CPA Australia.
Staff shortages ‘force small firms to merge or quit’
03 August 2022
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8 minute read
Staff shortages in the accounting industry are forcing mergers among smaller firms and some are even quitting the industry, says the public practice specialist at CPA Australia.
Kristen Beadle, who is also manager of SMEs and insolvency, said the higher salaries and sign-on bonuses offered by big firms were luring employees away from smaller outfits and there was unlikely to be a quick fix.
But speaking on the latest Accountants Daily podcast, Ms Beadle said CPA Australia was talking to Canberra about possible solutions including identifying people already in Australia with the requisite skills, or enticing back those who left during the pandemic.
“We’re working with the government to get those people that were skilled migrants in the accounting field who were sent home during COVID to reintroduce them back into the economy to help fill those shortages,” she said.
“CPA Australia is doing a lot about getting skilled workers back into the country to help fill those holes.”
During the pandemic Australian companies, including the banks, had plundered New Zealand by offering more money to staff but one advantage of the remote working trend was that employees venturing overseas could keep working here if they wanted to.
“Now that there’s an ability for people to work from home you can really work from anywhere,” Ms Beadle said. “So you don’t necessarily need to be in Australia to work for an Australian firm.
“If you want to travel or live somewhere else there’s now that ability as long as your employer is happy with it.”
But she said the talent drought was a hot topic among members and hitting smaller firms hard.
“A lot of members have been talking to us about this. It’s not something that’s going to go away very quickly,” Ms Beadle said.
“We’re seeing that the top firms and the big mid-tiers plus banks and industry are taking accountants and it’s really hitting our members in those sort of smaller firms where they can’t keep up with the same level of wage increases that those larger firms are throwing at the very finite labour market.
“I know they’re doing other things to help retain staff in those smaller practices, but ultimately, there’s been a lot of merging of those smaller firms or even exiting the industry.”
Ms Beadle said many industries faced similar labour problems but in some, especially farming, this was compounded by the recent natural disasters. She said fresh fruit prices were “skyrocketing” and there was urgent need to prevent food from going to waste.
“The priority has to be to get those people out on the farms to get the food off the farms and into the major cities for the consumer,” Ms Beadle said.
However, she thought there was unlikely to be a repeat of the land exodus during the previous high inflation period of the 1990s.
“Farming is a generational industry, so there is usually always somebody there to do it. That’s what our members tell us and that’s what we’re finding. So I don’t think we’ll have a mass exodus but there might be a contraction,” Ms Beadle said.
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- Dear MS, "Maybe pay a decent wage and you will see candidates knocking down the front door?" Oh gosh! I wonder why nobody thought of that? Such a simple solution to the problem.1
- Maybe outsourcing has created a vacuum within the profession.1
- Part of the issue is clients want expert advice but never want to pay expert prices, yet they turn around and pay their lawyer $650 an hour and their real estate agent 30k to sell a house with no issues. Accounting is the thankless, high-stress underpaid job of the future. Great job if you don't want a lifestyle and a happy marriage.2
- Maybe pay a decent wage and you will see candidates knocking down the front door?2
- CPA always says employee shortage ... we are short of cheap pay accountants and knowledgeable accountants.2
- If employees work 100% from home, the employer has the international market to choose from, not just Australia. Noting many overseas salaries are much lower. Hence I suspect employers will choose international workers, rather than a local who demands to work from home.2
- It's an interesting market to be sure, and one where employees can be more discerning of the employers than they could afford to be in the past. As suggested, money isn't everything; and yes, some want to work remotely. But the prospect of being upskilled, of being exposed to side-markets beneficial to a long-term career has assisted us in securing high-quality talent without suffering unsustainable wage increases. Many applicants were already gainfully employed and not on a search for more money. They were making use of the shortage to find a healthier workplace. Who can’t relate to that? And good on them, too.2
- Pay them like skilled workers and the labour issue goes away. Same as everything, pay higher rent and the rental shortages go away.1
- How is there a shortage? Whenever I have applied for a job recently there have been hundreds of others applying for the same job. Maybe firms need to move with the times and let people work 100% from home, then they have the whole of the Australian market as candidates. Not to mention the amount of money that can be made outside of public practice will always lure people away.0
