It has been an eventful few months; Liz Truss resigned after only 44 days as our new Prime Minister, our utility bills have shot up and the war in Ukraine rages on. As always, our thoughts are with the courageous people of Ukraine and, the ongoing troubles in their country. It is always great to hear positive news of Ukrainian forces pushing back the Russian troops who have illegally annexed sections of the country.
In recruitment, the market continues to be buoyant! We haven’t yet seen the pinch of rising inflation rates and the cost of living crisis. Average salaries have increased quite dramatically over the last year, most significantly at the 0-5 years post-qualified level where salaries have shifted 10-15%. This is due both to the competition in the market and wide-ranging salary reviews across a number of companies, as a reaction to the movement in the market and the aforementioned inflation. All of the Big Four have announced significant pay rises in the last few months to try and retain staff and I would expect many companies will follow suit. Businesses that don’t will undoubtedly risk losing their best talent which will in turn keep the market moving.
Our job flow through Q3 was comparable to Q2 but we saw an increase in the percentage of ‘commercial’ finance roles (63%) in comparison to financial reporting positions (37%). Likely a result of companies looking to drive greater understanding into their costs and improve margins or seek additional savings to mitigate against the risk of the obvious market challenges.
Once again, the pace of the interview process proved crucial. Companies that were able to complete their process in under 2-3 weeks filled their vacancy at the first attempt in 81% of cases. Those who took 4 weeks or longer found themselves restarting the process on over 50% of occasions. This is a huge difference and costs companies time and money. The key is to invest the time upfront and save time in the long term. To help with this, it is important to ensure key decision-makers and stakeholders are all available to run the process, before making a start on recruitment. Also, if your salary banding does not match up with the market then this either needs to be reviewed or potentially consider high calibre, but slightly more junior options who will grow into the role. These individuals may in fact provide you with greater longevity and are less likely to have their head turned in a few months by roles paying more money.
If you have any recruitment needs or if you would like to discuss the market in more detail, please reach out:
David Taylor | Divisional Director
david.taylor@goodmanmasson.com
+44(0)207 324 0596
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