Financial, finance and accounting, and IT contractors are facing a hiring boom in the second half of 2014, with 44% of major contractor clients planning to increase contract and permanent headcounts.
This is according to the latest professional index from Robert Half UK. It highlights that skilled professionals are in increasingly short supply, particularly those with niche skills. Half of the c-suite hiring managers surveyed said finding candidates with the right skills is “very challenging”.
“Hiring levels are returning to pre-recessionary levels, as many c-suite executives look to add more weight and support to their departments in order to grow their operations,” notes Robert Half senior managing director Phil Sheridan. “Businesses are no longer just replacing leavers, but are now looking to substantially expand their teams.”
According to ContractorCalculator CEO Dave Chaplin, this ‘perfect storm’ of rapidly increasing demand alongside candidate and skills supply shortages is the ideal time for permanent employees who are feeling the itch to make the leap into contracting.
“If you have the niche technical and compliance skills that are shown to be in such short supply and high demand, then now is the time to consider a contracting career,” he say. “Skills shortages also mean you’ll be likely to enter your first contract on a good rate.”
While good news for contractors, the skills shortages being experienced in sectors such as financial services are less good for the economy, as Sheridan explains: “Skills shortages across the UK economy are becoming a major issue, with this deficit putting businesses at increasing risk.
“Our figures show that financial services and finance and accounting, in particular, are current and future growth areas, with professionals being highly sought after and commanding premium remuneration.”
Compliance roles are the hardest to fill, followed by finance, data analytics and risk. In the accounting world, financial analysis, accounting, financial management/control and audit are the contractor skills clients are finding it hardest to source.