FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING ROBERT HALF SURVEY
Singapore - There is still a strong demand for finance and accounting professionals, as Singapore employers actively try to plug the gap and retain their top talent.
In the Robert Half's 2009 Workplace Survey where 202 human resources and finance and accounting professionals in Singapore were surveyed, 70% continued to see a shortage of highly-qualified finance and accounting professionals. Locating skilled professionals in that sector is difficult, with 76% of the respondents saying that there are now fewer highly-skilled finance and accounting professionals willing to move to a new company during this period of economic uncertainty.
"The search for highly qualified talent in this field becomes even more difficult during an economic downturn when people stay put at their jobs, adopting a wait-and-see approach to their career plans," says Tim Hird, managing director of Robert Half Singapore. He adds that many employers recognise the importance of offering attractive packages to lure the top talent in finance and accounting to their firms.
Half of those surveyed reported being concerned about the possible or pending retirement of professionals from their finance and accounting department, with 59% citing the unpreparedness of the next generation to take on a greater role. Many employers are also proactively addressing the skills shortage, with 55% of companies taking steps to identify and move finance and accounting staff into managerial roles. Some programmes like management training, soft-skills training, mentoring and succession planning have been implemented to groom and retain top talent.
The survey suggests contract staffing as a solution to the talent shortage. Supporting this is 20% of respondents expecting demand for contract-based accounting and finance professionals to increase this year, with cited benefits like potential cost savings (54%), greater flexibility in their workforce (47%), a manpower supplement during peak work periods and access to skills and abilities not found among their full-time workforce (22%).
Hird feels that contract employment will help plug the talent gap and is also a viable means for employers to explore possible permanent placements in the future. "There is no doubt that demand for these highly-qualified professionals will increase even further when the economy turns around and businesses start to accelerate their growth plans again," concludes Hird.
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