C-suite executives and hiring managers alike know to keep an eye on general labor pool trends. Research from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and trade associations like AICPA are invaluable tools.
But don’t stop there.
If your company’s 2018 financial and accounting hiring strategy is based on statistics alone, even if they’re specialized to your particular market, you might be missing key context.
Let’s start with the one trend on everybody’s mind:
The Labor Pool Is Historically Tight, and Likely To Stay That Way
U.S. unemployment is now at the lowest it’s been since late 2000, and that rate is even lower in the finance and accounting sectors. At the same time, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ predictions for 2016 through 2026 suggest job growth of 10% for accountants and auditors and 11% for financial analysts, both higher than the national average.
Additionally, a recent survey published in the Wall Street Journal suggests 81.3% of employers are looking to hire grads with business/accounting degrees, but only 19.2% of graduating seniors have them. This news on the hiring pipeline underscores BLS reports that 26% of accountants and auditors, and 14% of finance professionals, are currently 55 years of age or older.
Bottom line: Accounting and finance positions are going to be difficult to fill for the foreseeable future.
However, those numbers don’t give the full picture. Aston Carter Account Manager Michael Ternullo and Recruiter Gina Conti have experience at the front lines of staffing that add insight into 2018’s biggest trends — not just what they are, but why they’re happening and what to do about them.
Companies Are Emphasizing Employee Retention
In reaction to the tightening labor pool, many companies are implementing initiatives to reduce and mitigate the cost of job vacancies.
However, Conti has observed that these efforts can vary by company.
“We’re seeing retention programs across a spectrum of company sizes,” says Conti. “But it’s the smaller to mid-size companies that are most capable of instituting these sort of programs — work life balance, flexible schedules, relaxed dress codes — that help them keep their talent in place, since they have less institutional inertia to overcome.”
The effect of these initiatives is a further tightening of the available labor pool. As Ternullo puts it, “Companies are now trying to implement a better culture — a better work life balance — to keep people there longer, because it's so hard to find talented people. We've found that candidates who are already in those environments are definitely less likely to leave.”
Analyst Roles Are Becoming Less Segmented
In response to the tightening of the available labor pool, employers seeking analyst-level candidates are now casting a wider net.
Ternullo says, “Often we’ll see calls for financial analysts that need some predictive capability on the business end or business analyst positions that also require financial reporting. Over time, these positions are morphing into overarching analyst roles.”
In response to this trend, says Conti, “The available labor pool for these positions increasingly consists of candidates who simply list ‘analyst’ on their resume to avoid being pigeon-holed in one area. This makes it more important to gauge on a case-by-case basis whether a candidate’s actual experience reflects the specific needs of a particular position.”
Accounting Changes Have A Major Impact On Staffing
There are three major alterations to accounting standards that contribute to the overall scarcity of accounting and finance labor in 2018: revenue recognition, leased asset accounting, and tax reform (touching off the potential repatriation of as much as $400 billion in assets).
Evidence suggests that the transition process may present a greater burden than previously suspected. A recent Deloitte analysis concluded only 15% of companies had disclosed their revenue recognition implementation activities were “substantially complete.” That leaves a large majority behind the eight ball.
But how, exactly, are these changes impacting the labor pool?
This perfect storm of accounting requirements isn’t just sapping the available finance and accounting labor pool for the brief period of transition between old and new standards, explains Conti. “Because the new reporting standards involve a certain amount of retrospective review, it leaves room for misstatement and potential re-recognition and restatement of financials, which would also require extra support. Companies are responding by keeping their consultants on longer, whether that's through contract extensions or temp-to-perm hiring,” she says.
These extended contract durations may contribute to 2018 being an especially difficult year for finance and accounting hiring.
Companies Are Getting Less Picky — and That Could Be Detrimental
Basic math is the same on every ledger. That doesn’t mean any accounting and finance consultant is equally suited to meet a company’s specific needs. Even in a hiring environment where available talent is scarce and deadlines are looming, patience can pay off.
Ternullo says, “We've frequently seen companies with an urgent need tell us they’ll take any qualified consultant, regardless of their prior industry experience. I tend to respond that even though every statement involves similar calculations, accountants who don’t have experience in a related industry will more often struggle to pick things up quickly, which ultimately doesn’t serve the urgency of the position.”
Recruiting Methods Are Changing
The talent war is heating up, and finance and accounting talent recruitment has to adapt.
“Because of the low unemployment environment in finance and accounting, we’re being more creative and proactive with candidate outreach. It’s much less about trying to convert candidates at the first contact point,” says Conti. “The general scope of those first conversations is just to learn more about each candidate, learn more about what they specialize in, and build a relationship and credibility that can come into play further down the line.”
The effectiveness of staffing partners in 2018 will have much to do with their ability to establish trust among a specialized and high-demand labor pool.
Ternullo adds, “When we train our recruiting team to refine our efforts, and coexist with available talent within the specific niches that hiring managers are seeking most, that's when we’re able to provide the most value for clients and consultants alike.”
This year is shaping up to be one of the most difficult in recent memory for meeting staffing needs in accounting and finance. Don’t go it alone. Rely on partners who have devoted the time and energy required to succeed in a historically tough labor market.
Want to learn more? Contact Aston Carter now.
US - EN
