“The
qualified accountant job market remains very quiet. It has been much
the same for accountancy practice recruitment since December 2018 and
has yet to pick up. This may be a cumulative effect of the political
uncertainty but we also think the extraordinary rise of cloud accounting
and internet accountancy services is playing its part. Automation of so
many accounting and bookkeeping tasks for SMEs cannot be understated.
Salary levels remain stagnant in the sector but similarly it is hard to
recruit simply because accountants are extremely reluctant to move jobs
in the current climate. We have a CV search subscription for a few job
boards (feel free to contact us if you would like us to do a search for
your firm – no charge) and the quality of candidates at the moment
available and looking for work is generally quite poor. This is not a
busy or healthy market.”
Jonathan Fagan, Director, TP Recruitment Limited.
Each month we run a comparison between the last calendar month and the same time period in 2018 to see if there has been any noticeable difference in view of the extreme political uncertainty. In October 2019 we saw a 63% fall in the number of new permanent vacancies.
So how was November 2019 compared to November 2018? We saw a 82% decrease in the number of candidates register with us and a 70% decrease in the number of vacancies. This reflects the market fairly accurately – accountancy practice roles have declined quite significantly in the last 12 months.
Generally in November we watch the job market decline as we get into the run up to Christmas. Recruitment tends to be busy from March to September and then much quieter towards Christmas. Maternity cover roles become more relevant and always seem to peak about this time.
To request CVs or ask us for help with a vacancy please reply to this email, call 0800 246 5016 or visit our website by clicking here. We work with both practice and industry accountants across the UK, whether ACCA, AAT or CIMA.
KPMG and REC Report on Jobs
The KPMG and REC UK Report on Jobs is compiled by IHS Markit from responses to questionnaires sent to a panel of around 400 UK recruitment and employment consultancies (including the Ten Percent Group).
Key Findings for November 2019
Solid drop in permanent staff appointments, temp billings rise only slightly
Vacancy growth eases to 93-month low
Pay continues to rise as candidate availability falls again
Comment from KPMG:
“Businesses are still waiting to hear that starting gun, and until there is some certainty
around Brexit and now the election, employers continue to stall on creating vacancies and
making permanent hires. It’s not just businesses that are being
cautious, however, and over October we’ve seen jobseekers become
increasingly nervous about making a career change. The lucky few that do
find jobs are continuing to demand higher pay as reflected in the rise
in starting salaries and temp pay. The IT and computing sector threw
caution to the wind last month as the best performer in vacancy growth.
Meanwhile, the medical sector is not far behind, and we also saw a sharp
increase in the demand for temp staff in this sector.”
Comment from the REC:
“The labour market is strong but permanent placements have now dropped
for eight months in a row, and vacancies growth has fallen to its lowest
level since January 2012. One bright spark is the temporary labour
market, which continues to provide flexible work to people and
businesses that need it during troubled times. Ending political
uncertainty and getting companies hiring again is vital – but we must
also look to the long term future of work. “
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