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Dated February 18, 2008
The Twin Cities will likely continue to face a very
competitive job market for finance and accounting professionals
this year, according to findings from the first comprehensive
market study conducted by an independent research company for
SALO, LLC. To stay competitive, companies are struggling to find
ways to keep their best people and to attract top candidates.
The study involved in-depth, web-based interviews with senior
level finance/accounting professionals from the Twin Cities’
services, financial, healthcare and consumer sectors.
Respondents were equally split between private and
publicly-traded companies.
Key findings
Perceptions around staffing shortage
- More than a third of participants (37%) agree that there will
be a shortage of qualified professional finance and accounting
staff.
- Those who think that there will be a shortage are
significantly more likely to be publicly traded.
- Participants in the health care sector are significantly
more likely to think there will be a shortage than those in the
service sector.
Perception of local shortage
- 9 out of 10
respondents (88%) feel that the shortage in financial staff will
be driven by the insufficient number of qualified candidates.
The second-most cited reason is that talent is being utilized in
non-core financial areas (50%).
- Significantly more executives than directors attribute the
staff shortage to larger growth in business.
- Significantly more participants from privately held
organizations think the staff shortage is due to the
insufficient number of qualified candidates.
- Significantly more participants anticipating an increase in
staff in the first half of 2008 attribute the staff shortage to
larger growth in business.
Impact of staffing shortage
- The impact of a
financial staffing shortage will be to increased workload and
burnout on the current staff (40%) and to inhibit the
growth and efficiency of the company
- The use of
interim/contractual staff and recruitment firms and consultants
are the most frequently employed strategies to deal with the
financial staffing shortage.
Methods of
recruitment
-
The most
frequently used methods for recruiting direct hire professional
finance staff are:
-
Recruiters, headhunters, staffing agencies and consultants
(38%)
-
Internet searches and job boards (29%)
-
The method being
used most often to recruit interim/project professional finance
staff is recruiters, headhunters, staffing agencies and
consultants (62%). It is used 6 times more often than any other
recruitment method.
Salary
range of staffing shortage
-
Participants who think there will be a financial staffing
shortage in 2008 think that the $66 to $80K and the $81K to
$100K salary ranges are the most likely ranges to be affected.
-
Significantly more executives think that the $50K to $55K
range will see the biggest shortage of talent compared to vice
presidents.
-
Significantly more participants with the intent to increase
staff think that the $81K to $100K range will see the biggest
shortage of talent.
-
Significantly more participants from privately held
organizations think the talent shortage will be greatest in the
$101K to $120K range.
Areas
of staffing shortage
-
Participants who anticipate a shortage of qualified professional
finance and accounting functions cite the following areas as
most susceptible to the shortage:
-
Significantly more executives think there will be a shortage
in strategic/financial planning compared to directors.
-
Significantly more participants with the intent to increase
staff in 2008 think there will be a shortage in
strategic/financial planning, Internal controls and in the SEC
reporting area.
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