Wednesday 29th July, 2015

According to the latest Professional Hiring Index by Robert Half UK, senior finance executives in businesses operating in the Midlands plan to increase staff levels significantly over the next six months.

More than half (60%) of senior finance executives across the region predict that they will create new jobs in the second half of 2015, 10% higher than the UK average (50%).

The continued rise in the UK hiring forecast indicates that post-recession confidence has now stabilised and steady growth is on the agenda. As a result of this growth, there is stronger competition for accounting and finance professionals and the vast majority of CFOs in the region (90%) say that it is challenging to find skilled finance professionals today.

Reasons for the skills shortage according to CFOs are a lack of niche, technical experts (43%), general demand outweighs supply (28%) and lack of commercial skills (20%).

The majority (85%) of finance leaders in the region are optimistic about economic growth for the forthcoming year and this is reflected in predictions for their own company’s growth prospects (90%). Over half (58%) predict increase in finance and accounting roles driven by new projects/initiatives.

James Sayer, Director, Midlands, Robert Half said: "We are seeing businesses across the Midlands and particularly in Birmingham adding headcount for skilled finance and accounting professionals further extending the current skills shortage. Companies who are looking to hire should do so quickly as sought-after accounting and finance professionals on the market today are often receiving multiple offers."