The Bureau of Labour Statistics reports that there have been fewer job vacancies and resignations in the United States over the past few months. Overall, this is good news for employers. But that doesn’t mean CPA firms are finding it any simpler to fill open positions or keep the valuable staff members they already have.
According to Robert Half’s analysis of hiring and employment trends in the United States, 95% of hiring managers in the finance and accounting industries struggle to find qualified individuals who are open to employment. This discovery is not surprising given that many in-demand positions, such as accountants and auditors, have unemployment rates that normally trend significantly below the national average.
For businesses looking to grow their teams, the inability to find individuals who meet important job qualifications, however, is likely to become a bigger issue in the coming months. According to our research, a sizable majority (67%) of employers across industries want to strengthen their teams to help with company expansion. Nearly two-thirds (66%) of the recruiting managers we polled expressly mentioned they wanted to hire talent for new jobs in finance and accounting. Additionally, about a third (32%) of respondents said they would be hiring to fill open roles within their organisation.
Here’s another headline, though: According to a separate survey Robert Half conducted of American financial and accounting professionals, 41% of them are either actively looking for work or have recently started looking.
or they intend to in the upcoming months. This means that even if CPA companies are working hard to grow their teams in a competitive hiring environment, any short-term gains they make in increasing headcount could be offset by other employees leaving or starting new job searches.
What actions may employers take to reverse this trend? Our research offers several solutions that can aid CPA companies in recruiting and retaining employees. For one or more of the following three reasons (multiple replies to this survey question were allowed), Robert Half has discovered that many employees in the finance and accounting industries are eager to look for a new position.
The desire for a greater pay ranks as the primary motivation for 55% of finance and accounting professionals to explore a new position now or in the near future. This number is less than what we observed in comparable research findings that we published in the first half of 2023. However, there are still a lot of finance and accounting personnel who believe they could make more elsewhere or feel they aren’t being paid enough where they are.
Employees in any business frequently use pay dissatisfaction as a driving force in their job search. However, it’s crucial to recognise that in a shaky economy that is still attempting to fully recover from the disruption caused by the pandemic, many professionals are intensely focused on compensation. While they labour (or wait) to solve significant staffing shortfalls, many employers continue to put a lot of pressure on their best employees, possibly asking more of them without necessarily increasing their compensation.
It’s a good idea to assess employee salaries right away to make sure your CPA business is paying competitive wages, particularly for staff members in difficult-to-fill positions with specialised skill sets. You can determine whether your company’s pay practises are in step with current industry trends, including those in your local market, by consulting Robert Half’s most recent Salary Guide.
37% of finance and accounting professionals stated they were looking for a new job in order to gain better benefits and perks in our recent survey on hiring and employment trends. After reading that finding, many CPA firm leaders will undoubtedly heave a breath of relief as they consider how to compete with bigger companies that are able to give more extensive benefits than they can.
For instance, Millennial professionals prefer the freedom to make decisions at work, according to Robert Half’s research on the multigenerational workforce. Your company may give Millennial workers greater chances to lead innovative projects, accept challenging tasks, participate in leadership development courses, and other things in response to this preference. (And encouraging a culture of learning at your company can help your entire workforce.)
Remember that standard perks, like as health insurance and retirement savings plans, can go a long way towards luring and keeping experts in finance and accounting. Also, don’t discount the influence of alluring benefits like flexible scheduling, plenty of vacation time, and paid parental leave. Consider what your company now offers to employees and how it stacks up against what the competition is giving. If necessary, make strategic improvements where you can.
Pay attention to your employees’ requests for remote work if they make them. Many professionals have come to the realisation that working from home may be just as productive as working from their employer’s office, if not more so at times, as one of the long-lasting effects of the pandemic. Additionally, having the option to work remotely increases each employee’s chances of preserving a positive work-life balance.
It might be problematic for hiring and retention, not to mention employee morale, to take a tough stance with employees and demand that they come back to work full-time. According to a Robert Half survey of finance and accounting professionals, 34% of respondents responded that the desire for remote work possibilities is what is driving them to look for a new position.
Offering flexible work can allow your CPA business to find common ground with all of your workers even if you are unable to provide totally remote arrangements for some or all of your employees. This can help you increase employee retention and draw in skilled people who are looking for employers who are willing to offer some remote work. That includes younger employees, who will eventually run your company. In fact, Gen Z professionals cherish the freedom to work when and where they choose more than any other significant generational cohort in today’s employment, according to Robert Half’s research on the multigenerational workforce.
Offering remote work has an additional advantage that you may not have thought about: It makes it possible to hire talent from anywhere, including highly qualified contract professionals. When CPA companies wish to acquire specialised talents or require additional assistance during hectic times like tax season, they frequently turn to these services. However, a lot of businesses who hire individuals with finance and accounting skills also discover that utilising this strategy year-round can be advantageous.
Employers can fill crucial staffing gaps while they look for new talent, access the talent they need whenever they need it, and reduce the workload on their core team members to keep them happy and prevent burnout. And as they try to overcome their recruiting difficulties, 64% of hiring managers in the United States indicated they aim to hire additional contract workers for finance and accounting roles in the upcoming months.
The first and largest specialised financial talent solutions company in the world, Robert Half, has Steve Saah as its executive director of the finance and accounting permanent placement practise. The business has more than 300 locations across the globe. Based in the Washington, D.C. metro region, he is in charge of overseeing activities throughout the United States. He held the position of director of permanent placement services before being designated executive director in 2017.
After working as an assistant controller and an internal auditor, Saah joined the company in 1998 as a recruiting manager. He is a well-known authority, author, and speaker on hiring, management, and career trends, especially those that impact the accounting and finance industries. Saah graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in finance.