Obvious Figure of the Day: 95% of Hiring Managers Are Having Trouble Finding Finance and Accounting Talent

Posted on by Adrienne Gonzalez

Fun number of the day: 95%. That’s the percentage of hiring managers in finance and accounting having trouble finding skilled talent according to recent Robert Half research. The figures come from a survey of hiring managers and employees from small (20-249 employees), midsize (250-499 employees) and large (500-plus employees) private, publicly listed and public sector organizations.

First, finance and accounting:

screenshot of Robert Half report on 2023 hiring trends

In words:

Hiring outlook: Two-thirds of hiring managers in finance and accounting seek talent for new roles, and 32% are focused on staffing vacated roles. At the same time, 95% said they face difficulty locating skilled talent available for hire. This is not surprising in a field where unemployment rates for many in-demand roles trend well below the national average. For example, according to data from the BLS, the unemployment rate for accountants and auditors is 0.9%, and for financial clerks, it’s just 0.3%.

Employment outlook: 41% of finance and accounting professionals are either looking for a new job now or plan to launch their search by year-end. For 55% of workers in this field, the top reason to pursue a new role is a higher salary. Also, about one-third (34%) of professionals surveyed said they seek remote work options. If you’re an employer, note that offering flexible work could help you boost hiring and retention of these workers.

Now let’s talk about broader hiring trends. All hiring managers surveyed reported similar difficulty finding skilled talent, only 2% less across all professional fields compared to finance and accounting. You’ll note “eliminating roles” doesn’t appear at all in the finance and accounting group so that’s nice.

screenshot of Robert Half report on 2023 hiring trends

Let’s compare this to figures on the US talent market in 2022 and the first half of 2023 shared by Robert Half in February:

Companies’ Plans for Hiring Permanent Staff
FIRST HALF OF 2023 SECOND HALF 2022 FIRST HALF 2022
HIRING FOR NEW ROLES 58% 46% 65%
HIRING FOR VACATED POSITIONS 39% 46% 33%
FREEZING HIRING 3% 6% 2%
ELIMINATING POSITIONS 0% 2% 1%

Back in our corner of the world, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of accountants and auditors to grow four percent from 2022 to 2032, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Prior to this, BLS projected 10 percent growth (faster than average) for accountants and auditors for the period from 2016-2026. BLS acknowledges in its forecast that technological change is expected to affect the role of accountants in the next nine years but is not expected to reduce overall demand. “The automation of routine tasks, such as data entry, will instead make accountants’ advisory and analytical duties more prominent,” says BLS in its ten-year outlook.

Seeing as we’re in the earliest stages of the glorious AI-driven future, it looks like talent will continue to be a problem for finance and accounting departments everywhere at least for the near-term.

New Data Provides Insight on U.S. Hiring and Employment Trends [Robert Half]

Earlier: Robert Half Reports Finance and Accounting Talent is in High Demand (Duh)

 

 

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Auditor Made Nauseous By Computer Screens Needs Some Options

Welcome to the Trump-backlash-has-begun edition of Accounting Career Emergencies. In today’s edition, a young associate has been humming a long except is have a strange physical reaction to staring at a computer screen (no, seriously) and needs some options. Luckily I can stare at a MacBook screen for about as long as I can gaze at pictures of Minka Kelly. Along with your help, I’m sure we’ll come up with something.

Annoyed with a know-it-all in your office? Looking to step up your competitive poaching? Concerned about disappearing act going on all around you? Email us at advice@goingconcern.com and we’ll explain how this thing called “life as accountant” works.

Back to our patient:

Hi Caleb,

I’ve been lurking on Going Concern for almost a year now. I must say thanks for keeping me entertained during stretches of unassigned time.

About me: I’m a first year auditor at a quickly growing mid-size firm. I’ve passed two parts of the exam, and life would be great if it weren’t for one thing – I’ve become unable to work in front of a computer monitor for long stretches of time. For the past 5 months or so I’ve dealt with daily nausea, dizziness, sweatiness, etc. in front of the screen. It typically begins around lunch time. In the past I’ve had no trouble with long days in front of a monitor, but now even scrolling through a PDF or toggling between excel sheets is too much.

I’ve tried everything I can think of to solve this problem and my doctor is stumped as well. I exercise, eat right (no, really), and have seen two optometrists who both came to the same conclusion – “your eyes are fine, take more breaks.” I don’t believe it’s stress induced, as I get the same effect browsing at home for fun. A weekend away from screens doesn’t help a bit. An MRI of the head/neck turned up nothing.

But I’m not here for medical advice (unless other heavy computer users have experienced this). My question is what the hell to do with my life. Dealing with this daily isn’t possible much longer, and it pretty much guarantees I won’t make it as a senior anyway.

I see lots of career advice on this site, but it’s always people looking for similar work. Do I have any hope of finding a new situation that won’t put me in the poor house? Has anyone made a drastic jump from accounting and landed on their feet?

I know it’s strange to ask about non-accounting careers, but perhaps people with accounting-type personalities have found other niches.

-Nauseous Staff

Dear Nauseous Staff,

This has to be the strangest reaction caused by a spreadsheet allergy that I’ve ever heard. I understand that you’e got a bit of problem though, however, so I’ll cease with the jokes (but no promises).

You say you don’t want to end up in the “poor house” and you’re certainly not doomed but this may take some creative thinking. The first possibility that came to mind is to get a job on your firm’s recruiting team or a professional recruiting job. You know the accounting business, the people and what it takes to be in it, so why not apply that knowledge to those trying to get into or change gears within it? You’d get a lot of human interaction (in person and on the phone) rather than staring at Excel all day and you’d spend a little more time on your feet (especially if you’re in campus recruiting). Obviously as a professional recruiter you’d earn much, if not all, of your comp based on commissions so you have to be cognizant of that change but you already know tons of accountants and so why not use your network to your advantage? You know they’re going to leave public accounting eventually.

The other possibility that came to mind is that of a sales job with a software company that offers accounting/auditing/tax/etc. software. This could range from the enterprise stuff (e.g. Oracle) to the basic (e.g. Intuit). You’ve probably had exposure to a few different applications and again, what you want out of software is probably similar to what other accountants want. Plus you speak their language so there would be very little disconnect when you’re discussing specific needs. Accountants hate amateurs. Because of your work experience, you’re anything but.

Obviously the problem is that these jobs will involve some time in front of a computer but it should significantly reduce the number of staring contests with your computer. If this doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, just go back to school and get liberal arts degree. You’ll meet cooler people and getting high will pretty much be mandatory. You’ll have to get over the money thing but you may end up happy just the same (no, it’s not impossible).

Anyone got experience with a similar malady? How did you deal with it? Are you now a street performance artist or do you simply take 30 minute breaks every 30 minutes which results in 16 hour days? Help this kid out.

3 thoughts on “Obvious Figure of the Day: 95% of Hiring Managers Are Having Trouble Finding Finance and Accounting Talent”

  1. I highly disagree with this article.I am a freelance bookkeeper that has seen a steady decline in clients and accountants need for bookkeeping in the last 6-12 months. I spend the time I use to do bookkeeping now doing advertising and marketing.
    Where are the accountants that use to employ bookkeepers? I use to be so busy and it has dried up.
    Thanks, Kim
    bored bookkeeper

  2. Is not accurate in my experience. Perhaps standards are too high. I have my CPA. Double major in Accounting and Finance.

  3. One thing I’ve noticed is that vacancy announcements for these types of roles are really badly done. These employers want too much for what they’re willing to pay. For instance, they will ask for someone with a Bachelor’s in accounting, CPA preferred, with a minimum of 5 years experience, with an offered starting salary of $55K. What a joke. Almost no one with those qualifications is going to want to accept such a lousy salary. These employers need to get more realistic. Either pay market value for these people, or drastically lower your expectations for what you want. You get what you’re willing to pay for.

    I feel a big part of the problem is that so many job vacancy announcements are probably written by HR people who don’t have a clue about the accounting/finance profession and so they don’t realize that they’re asking for applicants who are much more qualified than what they’re willing to pay.

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