Summary
January has been a fairly quiet month for accountancy practice roles, unlike other sectors. This may be linked to the self-assessment deadline with employers too busy to think about their tea let alone recruiting new staff.. 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. Audit roles remain separate and quite distinct from this with figures increasing to £50-55k+. Contract roles have remained few and far between. There remains a glut of part qualified ACCA accountants with 1-2 years experience and a real shortfall of experienced ACCA and FCCA candidates in all geographical areas.
Statistics
Market outlook – demand will start to increase as we move into the prime recruitment season of April to September.
Statistics for January
Current live vacancies: 80
New salaried vacancies added in January: 13
New candidates registering: 33
Report from the REC (Recruitment and Employers Confederation)
Key points from the December survey:
* Permanent placements rise at quicker pace as temp billings continue to expand sharply
* Demand for staff moderates slightly but remains robust
* Further marked decline in staff availability contributes to steep increases in pay
Comments from Kevin Green, CEO of the REC:
“The number of people finding jobs via recruiters is growing, even while the overall employment rate is plateauing. This suggests that more employers are turning to recruiters to help them fill vacancies as candidate availability continues to fall and recruiting good people becomes that much harder. Recruiters are reporting a vast number of job areas that employers are finding hard to fill including, welders, van drivers and, for the first time, baristas. Employers as a response to these candidate shortages are offering increased starting salaries to attract staff but while this has been the case for some time it isn’t translating into significant wage growth across the economy yet… employers are going to have to think carefully about how they can both retain existing capabilities and find the new hires they need as competition for people intensifies. Bosses should consider going to wider talent pools and to be inventive about how to improve their employer brand and make themselves an even more attractive place to work.”