Has the Availability of Personnel within the Accounting Profession Really Improved

Has the Availability of Personnel within the Accounting Profession Really Improved
It’s funny, around a year or two ago, just depending on where you were in the country, many firms started to experience an increase in communication from recruitment firms.

An increase in the availability of accounting candidates required recruiters to be far more interactive with our market. Firms may remember that prior to this time, trying to have a call returned from a recruitment consultant was like trying to get blood out of a stone. The market was tight and good candidates were snapped up quickly by those in established relationships with recruitment firms.

However, as economic conditions have shifted, and there has been some rationalisation of staffing numbers in firms, there now seems to be an increased pool of prospective personnel.

Larger firms have toned down their recruitment numbers in the graduate and under graduate space and it seems more senior personnel are now available. However, the question remains, are these staff the type of personnel that your firm considers attractive?

Currently, this appears to be the fundamental issue impacting recruitment within firms. Many of the personnel available in the marketplace are not seen as ideal candidates.

Yes, we are aware that many firms have used the downturn in the market to cull weaker performing staff. Perhaps it is these weaker candidates, searching for work that make up this large pool of ‘not ideal’ candidates.

“There are personnel seeking employment out there, but the quality of candidates are not that strong.”

“What’s one firm’s gold mine can be another firm’s failure.”

In general, the commentary suggests that candidate quality, particularly amongst more senior personnel is not that strong.

Perhaps a couple of tips to help.

► Employment conditions in the West have and will continue to change in the near future. There may be the opportunity to attract some staff that moved to the West seeking greener pastures, back to the East coast.

► This may also apply to other mining related areas like regional Queensland. Firms in Queensland have the advantage of attracting staff from their more southern competitors, New South Wales and Victoria.

If you are part of a network or association, this may help identify personnel interested in a lifestyle change.

If you have experienced some recruitment success, we would be interested in hearing from you. Please email your comments to services@robknights.com.au.