Fight for qualified finance staff

More of a third of British companies hiring staff are facing difficulties finding suitably trained senior finance and accountancy executives, survey finds.


More of a third of British companies hiring staff are facing difficulties finding suitably trained senior finance and accountancy executives, survey finds.

More of a third of British companies hiring staff are facing difficulties finding suitably trained senior finance and accountancy executives, survey finds.

The survey by recruiter Poolia, which contacted 70 UK businesses of a range of sizes, finds that of the 30 per cent who plan to increase headcount next year, many say they are struggling to fill vacancies because of a lack of experienced candidates.

In a sign companies are feeling more positive about the economic climate, the survey shows that 57 per cent expect revenue growth next year.

But in companies which are recruiting, finding a trained transactional clerk is proving the most difficult, with 40 per cent saying they are having difficulties, while 38 per cent find it hard to hire suitably qualified mangers.

Part-qualified accountants are the next toughest role to fill followed by qualified accounts.

Less than 5 per cent of surveyed companies rate finance and accountancy job candidates a nine or a ten, where ten is ‘very high quality’, and almost a quarter find the majority of interviewees a four or five.

Despite the staff shortage, finance and accounting workers face more lay-offs next year, with 17 per cent of companies surveyed planning redundancies in their departments – the same level as last year.

Nick Britton

Nick Britton

Nick was the Managing Editor for growthbusiness.co.uk when it was owned by Vitesse Media, before moving on to become Head of Investment Group and Editor at What Investment and thence to Head of Intermediary...

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