Unstable labour markets in Australia?
Almost two thirds of CFOs in NSW and VIC expect to grow their teams in 2015

Finding skilled finance and accounting professionals is the management concern for Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) across Australia, according to leading specialist recruiter Robert Half.

Despite these challenges, more than half the CFOs surveyed expect to add new finance and accounting professionals to their teams this year.

The 2015 Robert Half Salary Guide, which gathered data from 200 CFOs across the country, found the main reason for increasing headcount to be for new projects and investing in domestic companies.

“CFO hiring intentions are highest in the non-mining states of Victoria and New South Wales, with two thirds of business leaders planning to grow their teams in the coming 12 months. In Queensland and Western Australia hiring intentions are slightly lower at 42% and 44% respectively,” Andrew Brushfield, Robert Half Director said.

Results also indicated that the majority of CFOs (94%) find it challenging to source appropriate talent for their organisation.

“Retaining top staff is also an issue, and about 89% are concerned about losing their top employees,” Mr Brushfield said.

“Our research shows that skills shortage and retention continues to weigh heavily on management time and plays a key role in strategic planning.

“The demand for highly skilled individuals is further evident with close to one-third of

those surveyed reporting a lack of niche technical experts in the market place,” Mr Brushfield said.

“The skills shortage for high calibre talent is having a noticeable impact on remuneration. When we spoke to hiring managers recruiting for finance and accounting positions, we found that more than two thirds are willing to negotiate salary with top candidates than they were in previous years.

“Highly skilled individuals can negotiate salaries as firms seek out the best talent. Organisations also need to think of creative ways to retain them for the long term,” Mr Brushfield concluded.

Robert Half is a global recruitment firm with more than 340 locations around the world. The firm has seven offices in Australia and New Zealand, with a highly-specialised team solely focused on the financial and accounting, technology and administration sectors.

Robert Half’s work life blog hosts further news, trends and expert commentary which impact the Australian employment market.