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Welcome to the first edition of what will become a regular market analysis piece, looking at how the Midlands accountancy recruitment market is fairing!
The report will focus on:
The Talent Pool / Business Outlook / Hiring Trends
- How “busy” is the market?
- How optimistic are business leaders feeling
- Are companies investing in automation?
- Are companies hiring?
- How hard are they finding it?
It really has been a quiet start to the year for many. The year started with optimism, but the constant changes that come almost monthly have subdued overall confidence.
As evidenced by the graph below, the market has been suppressed since around November 2022. If you have found it tougher than normal to find a job, its not you!
Businesses thrive on predictability, and we have not had a stable few years! Roles are not being instantly replaced, industry fit is becoming more important again.
However, certain skillsets are still very much in demand, including but not limited to:
Manufacturing, FP&A, Group Accounting, Tax, ERP Installation, Ambitious Part & Newly Qualified candidate, PE backed FDs/CFOs.
The recruitment market will thrive again, but it may not be till Late Q3/Early Q4 2025.
Currently, teams are shrinking. This is just a view on one quarter, but an interesting finding. Over the long term, it will be interesting to see if this continues and if the rise of AI reduces headcount in finance teams or merely moves the workload to new areas.
Automation and investment is also another interesting topic we looked at.
Investment in technology often creates more jobs in the short term, due to talent being seconded and project roles coming up. However, companies often invest in technology now, with the long term goal of reducing the required headcount.
There is Optimism!…
Companies are still hiring despite the economic unpredictability around at the moment.
Businesses are also fairly optimistic, with more than three times (17%) as many companies highly optimistic than those that were very unoptimistic (5%).
This is the best indicator that we are going in the right direction and is an almost mirror opposite of “current” market trends.
Despite a market that is not as competitive as 2021/22, some areas still struggle for talent.
Hiring at the Ledger and senior levels has become slightly easier, but hiring at the mid range (Part qualified and Newly Qualified) level can still be tough.
Hybrid is still king… Candidates are keen to return to the office, but very few want a fully 5 days a week in the office. Companies wanting a full time office presence face higher hiring costs and a longer time to hire. This will become even more difficult as the market picks up.
Recruitment hasn’t been the busiest for 12+ months now, and it can feel slow going at the moment, especially if you are QBE, on a longer notice period or work in a very competitive end of the market.
However, despite all this, the recruitment market is very resilient. There are still roles out there, it just takes a little longer these days!
Mid to long term, we feel the recruitment market will get better, and make the following predictions:
The market will get busier: There is a range of pent up demand and many companies have kept hiring to a minimum for a number of months. We see the 2nd Half of the year being busier than the 1st.
Some will find the future tough: Companies who seek staff in 5 days a week are filling their roles at the moment, albeit slower than those offering Hybrid. Once the market picks up, this could slow to a crawl.
Certain salaries could rise: Certain pools could see their stock rise in the future, especially those with niche skillsets or studiers/newly qualified staff who are finite by nature.
Our final comment:
It hasn’t been the busiest, but there are still roles out there and it is set to get busier!
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