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The latest Employment Trends for Accountants

As recently published by the REC, some interesting information emerged about the current job market and in particular for the Accountancy sector, candidates looking for their next job and for employers looking to recruit.

The key takeaways were: –

Permanent placements rise at weakest pace for five months…
Growth in temporary billings levelled off slightly
Lack of qualified Candidates fuels wage rises

Summary:
The recently publishesd IHS Markit/REC Report on Jobs, provides the most exhaustive snapshot of the UK’s labour market, using real data from Recruitment businesses nationally. Snippets from the report follow below: –

“Permanent placements growth weakens to five-month low…

Permanent staff placements rose at the softest pace since April at the end of the third quarter. That said, the rate of growth remained marked overall. Temp billings meanwhile rose sharply, despite also seeing pace of expansion moderate from the previous month.

…as availability of candidates continues to fall sharply

A key factor weighing on growth in staff appointments was a further steep decline in candidate availability. For permanent candidates, the latest fall was the sharpest for four months, while the availability of temporary workers also fell at a historically marked pace.

Further steep increase in demand for staff.

The number of job vacancies across the UK continued to rise sharply during September, with growth of staff demand edging down only slightly from August’s recent peak.

Pay pressures remain sharp.
Strong demand for staff and a further drop in candidate availability placed further upward pressure on pay during September. Permanent starting salaries rose at the second-steepest rate in 22 months (after August), while temp pay growth softened only slightly from August’s 16-month record.

Regional variation
On a regional basis, growth of permanent placements was the most marked in the Midlands and the South of England. London meanwhile signalled a renewed drop in permanent placements (albeit marginal).
The quickest rate of temp billings growth was seen in Scotland, closely followed by the North of England. The weakest upturn was registered in London.

Sector variation

Latest data signalled that demand growth remained considerably stronger in the private sector than the public sector.
The sharpest overall increase in demand for staff was recorded for permanent workers in the private sector, while the weakest rise in staff vacancies was seen for permanent public sector workers.

Accounting/Financial was the most sought-after category for permanent staff in September, followed by IT & Computing. The slowest (albeit still marked) increase in vacancies was reported for Construction.

Blue Collar achieved first place in the rankings for temporary/contract staff demand during September, while Nursing/Medical/Care scored second place. All remaining categories also saw steep increases in demand.

Kevin Green, REC Chief Executive, says:
“Recruiters are finding it even harder to find people to fill vacancies. Candidate availability has been falling for the past four years and the record high UK employment rate plus a slowdown in the number of EU nationals coming to work here is exacerbating the situation, potentially leaving roles unfilled.
“Across the UK permanent placements are slowing, but London is faring worse with placements declining for the first time in eleven months and the financial sector in particular struggling to recruit for roles such as audit, payroll and risk.

“Low-skill roles are also hard to fill in areas like food processing, warehouses and catering – sectors that employ a higher proportion of people from the EU than others across the economy. We urge the government to ensure any new immigration system includes provisions for low-skilled and temporary workers so that warehouses, supermarkets and restaurants can access the people they desperately need.”

Astute’s Mary Maguire is looking forward to tonight’s employability event in conjunction with East Midlands IoD and Nottingham Trent University. This evening businessmen and women will be sharing tips and best practice to the IoD’s Student Members on key topics covering CV’s & application forms, Interviews, Assessment Days and Psychometric Testing and Networking! There will be an opportunity for questions and networking at the end which should give the IoD Students some key takeaways to enhance their employability in a competitive employment market. Mary will be working with small teams of students talking about assessment centres and psychometric tests giving some important advice to help the students secure a new career opportunity.

I was asked to put together some words for Recruitment International and TheBusinessDesk.com a few months back. While adding some new content to my company website I chanced upon this article again. This advice is for anyone considering starting up his or her own business and is an important reminder for anyone currently running an SME.

Be positive and honest
If you have a great business idea, pursue it! You never know where it can take you. Remember to be a doer not a watcher. When we were made redundant in 2009 I was devastated for a couple of days before asking myself: “What am I going to do now?” I knew I was skilled in my sector and I knew I had a great reputation. It seemed clear to me that I should set up on my own and so I approached my now business partner who I trusted and had worked with for several years.

Surround yourself with talented people and keep hold of them
Staff recruitment, retention, training and motivation are all absolutely key to any successful business. Any organisation is only as strong as the staff it employs. Everyone in a business is important and needs to feel fully engaged, on board and valued by their firm. Remember that you need to have some fun too and always reward success. On this topic, we will be hosting a business breakfast event on Emotional Intelligence For Business Success on 13 October. This will cover key reasons why the emotional intelligence and wellbeing of employees is key in every workplace.

Remember that cash is king
It is a brutal fact that even if you have the best business, product or service in the world; without money in your bank account you are unable to pay your suppliers, creditors or staff – let alone yourself!
You need to have a firm but fair approach to cash flow management and a constant eye on your bottom line, all of the time, not just at the end of the month or quarter! You need to scrutinise your debtors and maintain a strong and clear line of communication with your creditors to ensure you and any business partners are always on top of your current cash position.

Truly understand your business
You have to know what makes your business unique and what makes your specific service or product stand out. You should have USPs, which set you apart from your competition such as our unique Triple Point Guarantee. Consider new USPs you can offer and constantly ask yourself: “How is what I am doing now benefiting my business? Is what I am doing now the most effective use of my time?” Remember to work on your business NOT just in it!

Engagement is key
Social media is constantly evolving alongside all methods of communication, branding and marketing. To support your business, you need to constantly and consistently engage with your target audience in a meaningful, educational and non-confrontational way. Your business needs to be synonymous with quality and professionalism. Think about what messages you, your team and your social media channels are communicating about the brand and business.

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Mike

16:04 13 Mar 23

Highly recommended! Josh and Sarah have been fantastic at Astute. They've found and placed me in 2 jobs now between them, both really responsive and excellent at keeping you up to speed with things. Very knowledgable about the roles and happy to talk to companies with any queries you have.

C R.

10:45 27 Jan 23

Great agency one of the best ones I've worked with! Liz has been a great help and support in helping me towards a new direction in my career life. She is very attentive and keeps me in the loop at all times! She makes the extra effort to work with my preferred requirements for work and even if it isn't completely attainable she meets me in the middle and does as much as she can to help! Also Liz is very funny might I add 😂 and I'm happy that I can now put a face to the name after all these years! Thank you again Liz for all your help and support! 😊

Christine

10:32 20 Dec 22

Josh and the Astute team was very swift to help me to find roles that matched my profile. They are really reliable and will help through every step of the recruitment process going out of their way to assist and follow up when needed. Could not find a better recruitment agency!

Helen Pinegar

16:19 18 Dec 22

Fantastic recruitment agency.. Josh was extremely enthusiastic, encouraging and clearly knowledgeable about what was needed from both the employee and the employers point of view. Extremely supportive especially in regards to interview preparation and endeavoured to procure feedback promptly. Wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Astute in the future to both candidates and recruiting businesses particularly for the right fit for the role!!!

Lisa Leigh

11:56 30 Nov 22

I have worked as a candidate for Astute and they have been excellent. Super friendly service and professional agents keen to fit the right person to the right job. It has been a pleasure dealing with them and I would happily work for them again in the future. Highly recommend this agency.