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Accountancy recruitment: July 2009
Accountancy News |
10/07/2009
The credit crunch meant that the UK's financial services sector was at ground zero when the current recession hit the country. Perhaps not since Black Wednesday had monetary matters made the front pages in such a dramatic style. Angry consumers and politicians demanded regulatory changes, while those working in the sector started to wonder what the future had in store for them. Talk of an end to "excessive" bonuses was abundant and the fear of redundancy became a topic for water cooler conversations all over Britain. But just how bad is the situation in reality?
In April of this year, the Centre for Economics and Business Research went some way to answering that question. It predicted that the credit crunch would lead to a total of 57,000 jobs being lost in the sector, the equivalent of a 16 per cent fall from peak levels. However, Richard Snook, the body's senior economist, claimed that things could have been much worse if it was not for the action taken by the government. He also announced that the light at the end of the tunnel could be seen.
So what signs of recovery are there to be found? Well, according to the June 2009 Ashdown Group Job Index the number of finance and business services employers recruiting new staff has increased by 50 per cent in just one month. However this rise came off the back of a virtual standstill in April, and the year-on-year trend is still significantly down. Despite this, there does seem to be a growing sense that the worst could be over. A recent study by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants found that 80 per cent of its members who are employed at mid-sized firms are confident that they will not lose their jobs because of the recession.
In fact, although the downturn is having an obvious impact on all sectors, people in financial services jobs might still be able to move on to a better position as a number of employers in the sector are still keen to secure key talent. Ian Powell, chairman and senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, explained why the firm sees ongoing recruitment as vital to its future success.
He said: "As market leader we continue to build the broadest and deepest range of specialists to serve our clients and [we are] intensely focused on our clients' needs."
This desire to secure long-term success is why the firm has already appointed 54 new partners this year and will be welcoming a total of 1,000 graduates, he added.
Indeed, with a recent study by KPMG and the Confederation of British Industry warning that London could face a skills shortage, high-ability workers could find themselves in great demand this month as firms look to position themselves for the economic recovery.
Posted by Jon Aspinell.
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