The Accounting and Finance market continued its strong growth throughout 2018. This was buoyed by an extremely strong Multinational base as well as growing confidence in the SME market. Despite Brexit, we saw a number of SME sectors experience growth which involved the re-introduction of senior finance positions which were previously stripped.
Private Equity investments has helped in driving this growth by backing Irish businesses with international potential. As part of these PE Investments, we have seen a number of finance functions being restructured and/or a number of senior finance appointments. This has undoubtedly driven the growth in senior finance appointments across all industries.
Recently qualified Accountants up to 5/6 years PQE are still generally in high demand with Shared Services Centres, scaling Multinationals and FDI backed businesses all requiring a number of hires in this space. This still remains one of the most competitive areas to retain or attract talent with many job-seekers having multiple offers to choose from. Introduction of flexible working hours, increased bonus potential and corporate wellness programmes were all new incentives for employees to join and key factors in their decision making process.
Across most levels, we have seen a vast increase in counter offers. This is standard within a market almost at full employment. The general sentiment from employees is often that a counter offer is “too little too late” and we expect the frequency of counter offers to continue well into 2019. However we do urge companies to be more proactive in their approach to keeping staff content within their roles. This is easier said than done but simple suggestions such as remote working once a week/month, regular social events, Charitable initiatives as well as general career growth and opportunity have worked extremely well for companies taking a more proactive approach.
When hiring staff we have found that candidates are not willing to wait for multiple rounds, with the standard for most processes being anywhere up to 3 rounds of interviews/discussions. After this point we have found that most companies dramatically reduce the probability of securing the preferred candidate. This can be for a number of reasons such as: candidates losing interest after 3 rounds of interviews and alternative processes moving quicker.
Hot Jobs:
Finance Director/CFOs
Financial Controllers
Tax Managers
VAT Managers\Directors
Finance Business Partner
Accounts Payable/Receivable with languages
Hot Sectors:
Pharma/Biopharma
Technology
Construction/Property Development
Aviation Leasing
Financial Services - Banking/Asset Management and Insurance
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