“The
qualified accountant job market remains very quiet. It has been much
the same for accountancy practice recruitment since December 2018 and
has still to pick up although we saw some activity last month. 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 number of 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. Accountancy recruitment
remains neither 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 November 2019 we saw a 82% decrease in the number of candidates register with us and a 70% decrease in the number of vacancies. In December 2019 we saw a 33% decrease in the number of accountant vacancies advertised with us. Although the general election will have played its part, we suspect this is simply a continuation of the current market conditions for accountants in practice generally.
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
Permanent placements rise for first time in a year.
Vacancy growth remains near decade low.
Staff availability continues to fall sharply.
Comment from KPMG:
“It would appear that following the clarity of the election outcome, the jobs market finally began to show signs of life with permanent placements rising for the first time in a year. “However, growth was modest and coming off a historically low base, so UK business will be hoping for quick government action to get the UK back on the path to growth including an
investment in upskilling the workforce. Lingering uncertainty around the Brexit deal to be secured will continue to weigh on employers’ decision making around hiring and investment over the coming months, as well as job-seekers desires to seek new opportunities.”
Comment from the REC:
“After the uncertainty of 2019, there are some signs of a clearer outlook for hiring in today’s survey. With a new government in place and the path ahead looking more predictable, some businesses have decided that they have waited long enough. The first increase in permanent
placements for a year should give encouragement to both recruiters and employers – let’s hope this is a sign of positive things to come. Feedback from recruiters shows that the upcoming IR35 changes are affecting both placements and the availability of flexible workers. This is a delicate period for the jobs market, and is the worst time to push through sweeping changes to the way we tax contractors.”
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