Shortage! Accountants, Financial Analysts, And Others.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Shortage! Accountants, Financial Analysts, And Others.

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There is an increasing shortage of financial and accounting professionals in the United States and throughout the global employment markets.

This gap can be anticipated to increase based upon trends in business school enrollment, management recruiter supplied data, cultural and student surveys indicating the decline in the popularity of these disciplines, and the "brain drain" of Baby Boomers fully-credentialed in these areas, but either 1) considered to 'past their prime' (my words) in terms of their age, or 2) unable or unwilling to work at the proffered compensation packages (lower salaries and reduced healthcare benefits, plus the expenses associated with relocation).

The shortage is most acute, and the demand especially high, for those accountants, auditors, financial analysts and other professionals who have experience in dealing with multinational companies and international transactions.

An excerpt of a recent article follows with further details regarding this supply versus demand disparity.

Ironically, such a large number of the headlines and social media buzz postings currently center around the apparent lack of financial responsibility and accountability of governments and the largest companies (particularly banks and financial institutions) throughout the world.
Perhaps there is a significant positive correlation between the ongoing financial crisis and the lack of capable professionals to aid in its remedy or reversal.

Douglas E Castle [http://aboutDouglasCastle.blogspot.com] for InfoSphere Business Alerts And Intelligence

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Global companies worry about hiring, retaining accounting staff, survey says
Companies are becoming concerned about finding skilled accounting and finance professionals to hire, according to a survey by Robert Half International. In the survey of financial leaders around the world, 67% said it is very or somewhat challenging to fill such jobs. Also, 56% said they're worried about keeping their best talent, up from 45% last year. Accounting Today (8/17)

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An observation: If money is truly such a potent motivator in "clearing the market," how come the companies and organizations requiring this expertise are not prepared to better-compensate and more aggressively recruit (through Human Resource departments) those individuals with the necessary training and experience. Incentives to go into these fields are not where they need to be in order to satisfy demand -- and even if they were, two whole generations of students would have to become re-introduced and re-ignited at the prospect of careers in financial analysis and accountancy. --DC