Finance jobs expected to increase in 2016

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New research that was released last week has revealed that the number of finance jobs in the UK is expected to increase in the first half of 2016.

London and the South East are expected to benefit the most with 63% of finance executives in these areas saying that they expect to add new positions to their team in the first half of the year. This number was slightly lower across the rest of the UK at 58%.

A separate survey released by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) also found that recruitment companies saw their overall number of permanent job vacancies rise by four percent year-on-year in December 2015. Roles for finance and accounting professionals were up by an impressive 16%.

Further information from APSCo has also revealed that salaries across all professional sectors has increased by 4.3% compared to this time last year. Again, the finance sector has fared particularly well as median pay in banking and financial services has soared by 18.5% and 10.8% respectively.

It’s not just permanent staff who are set to benefit either as temporary vacancies have risen by 2% across all industries. In finance and accounting, the number of temporary jobs advertised has soared by 34% compared to a year ago.

The Chief Executive of APSCo, Ann Swain commented:

“Whereas historically, many organisations may have thought of temporary workers as people to hold the fort during an absence, the reality is that the professional flexible workforce is now ‘the new normal’ – a trend that we predict will continue into 2016.”

Although the increase in finance jobs is great news, executives are worried about how they’re going to find the right calibre of finance staff to fill their vacancies. As demand for employees increases it means that the available talent pipeline will continue to shrink. This means that companies need to act quickly if they want to find candidates with the right skills.

A staggering 99% of senior financial executives who were surveyed said that finding the right quality of finance professionals is a challenge. Additionally to this, 85% said that they are somewhat or very concerned that their top performers may leave for another job opportunity this year.

If you’re recruiting for finance jobs in 2016 and need help finding and attracting high quality talent, please feel free to contact Choralis Consulting and we will be more than happy to help. Alternatively, if you’re a candidate looking for your next role, why not take a look at our vacancies page?