Summary
May and June have been very quiet for accountancy practice roles, but this has been similar to other sectors. The World Cup always affects business and so does hot weather – I think our business cycle goes exactly opposite to ice cream sellers! New permanent vacancies registered with us have stayed low. Salary levels remain static – usual ranges for permanent ACCA full member accountants for Senior Accountant roles being around £35-40k across the country, with very few above this, although London firms seem to be mostly willing to increase up to £45k to attract the right person. Client Manager roles range from about £45k up to £80k and Audit roles remain separate and quite distinct with figures starting at c£50-55k+ and heading upwards rapidly. There remains a glut of part qualified ACCA accountants with 1-2 years experience looking for work and a real shortfall of experienced ACCA and FCCA candidates looking for salaried roles in all geographical areas.
Statistics
Market outlook – demand will start to increase as we continue in the prime recruitment season of April to September.
Statistics for July 4th
Current live vacancies: 82
New salaried vacancies added in June: 10
New candidates registering: 45*
(*NB – we do not include the hoards of unsuitable applicants we filter on a daily basis – these are qualified or part qualified accountancy practice candidates).
The REC (Recruitment & Employment Confederation) release a monthly review of the employment market in the UK and here are the highlights from their most recent report in June 2018:
| ▪ | Steep increases in both permanent placements and temp billings |
| ▪ | Severe staff shortages leads to quickest rise in starting salaries for three years |
| ▪ | Staff vacancies expand at the quickest pace since last November |
REC director of policy Tom Hadley says:
“Despite growth in demand for staff this month, we have seen another severe drop in staff availability. Whilst it is encouraging to see a rise in staff appointments for permanent and temporary staff, indicating that employers are feeling confident in making hiring decisions, a lack of candidates remains a major challenge for recruiters – particularly in areas like nursing, engineering, manufacturing and IT. Staff shortages are becoming business critical in many of these key sectors. Because of the lack of candidate availability we are seeing employers paying higher salaries to attract the right people…”