Finally, green shoots of news from APSCO! After a year of hearing from FDs and CFOs that they are confident that there is a growing need for more qualified finance professionals, analysts are finally seeing this as a reality. But where is this growing need coming from? Although 2% doesn't sound like a huge increase, this is significant for the finance recruitment sector and is a good indicator of general business confidence. When the finance (and other) recruitment market is in full swing, requirements are created due to three major drivers:
- Natural attrition and churn
- Growth
- Business change or projects
When the recession hit, all three of the above were severely affected: people were not moving resulting in less opportunities; businesses were seeing negative or no growth, therefore head counts were frozen (or reduced); and major projects were put on ice.
As businesses start to show confidence, candidates become a little more open to moving, and projects start to come back online. This is what we are witnessing on a day to day basis right now. People who 'fancy a change' are now looking for new challenges, which in itself creates backfill opportunities. Many of the CFOs I am speaking to are investing heavily in new technology as competition for clients and business increases. This is having a positive effect on demand for quality interim candidates and aligns itself with the APSCO findings.
Consultants in the finance sector have been living off the bare minimum since 2008, with the industry seeing a huge amount of attrition; only the best, toughest or most foolhardy remain. Here's hoping the wait has been worth it and here's hoping you are positioned to take advantage of the growth.
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