demand for new hires shows signs of weakening.
by beth bellor
high-quality tax, accounting, and finance talent remain in high demand, with about 33% of companies reporting open positions, according to a new study that also forecasts strong hiring demand over the next 12 months.
more on jobs: payroll agencies lead jobs growth in the tax & accounting industry | hiring trends: accounting hits 4.2% expansion rate | hiring surge powered by growth in payroll agencies | tax shops cut 6,200 jobs | salary survey: top skills getting top pay
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“more than one-third of the human resources professionals and hiring managers who participated in the q4 2019 hiring forecast survey reported unfilled jobs in accounting and finance,” according to sagar pandya, cpa, vp of operations at brilliant. “this number is lower than last quarter and lower than any other quarter in the past year.”
in the third quarter, 43 percent of businesses reported unfilled positions in accounting and finance; the forecast for q4 is 33 percent.
“although the number of accounting and finance jobs decreased this quarter,” pandya noted, “the fact that there are numerous openings shows that the labor market is still strong.”
some 24 percent of hr professionals plan to increase their hiring of new accounting and finance talent in the coming 12 months. when asked the top source for hiring for their teams, 32 percent indicated search and recruitment firms vs. 24 percent for online job boards.
the national unemployment rate declined to 3.5 percent in september, and total employment rose by 136,000, according to the latest data available to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research. job growth has averaged 161,000 per month throughout 2019, compared with an average monthly gain of 223,000 in 2018.
professional and business services grew by 34,000 in september. the industry has added an average of 35,000 jobs per month thus far in 2019, compared with 47,000 jobs per month in 2018.
by the numbers
in this report, 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 highlights:
- current hiring trends in each of the bookkeeping, payroll, tax and cpa segments of the industry (all data seasonally adjusted)
- average hourly wages for key segments
- typical hours worked per week
- trends concerning women in the accounting workforce
employment in the profession stood at 1,059,400 in september, the latest figures available to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research. that was up 1,900 or 0.2 percent for the month and 39,500 or 3.9 percent for the year. they worked an average 36.3 hours per week, up 12 minutes or 0.6 percent for the month and half an hour or 1.4 percent for the year. they barely set a new record for earnings at $34.32 an hour, up 6 cents or 0.2 percent for the month and 72 cents or 2.1 percent for the year. staff employment at 794,800 was down 3,000 or 0.4 percent for the month but up 29,300 or 3.8 percent for the year. workers averaged 34.3 hours per week, up 6 minutes or 0.3 percent for the month and 24 minutes or 1.2 percent for the year. they cracked the $27 mark with hourly earnings of $27.11, up 13 cents or 0.5 percent for the month and 92 cents or 3.5 percent for the year.
cpa firms
cpa firms added 500 employees to reach 495,500, up 0.1 percent for the month and 15,500 or 3.2 percent for the year. hours worked averaged 37.6 – the same level as february through april – up 36 minutes or 1.6 percent for the month and 18 minutes or 0.8 percent for the year. earnings dipped to $36.36, down 27 cents or 0.7 percent for the month but up 25 cents or 0.7 percent for the year.
staff at cpa firms numbered 355,800, down 100 for the month – statistically flat – but up 10,700 or 3.1 percent for the year. they worked 36.1 hours, up 24 minutes or 1.1 percent for the month and 12 minutes or 0.6 percent for the year. they made $27.74 an hour, down 24 cents or 0.9 percent for the month but up 68 cents or 2.5 percent for the year.
tax preparation services
tax prep employment declined to 104,600, down 700 or 0.7 percent for the month but up 4,200 or 4.2 percent for the year.
payroll services
payroll employment dropped to 192,700, down 2,500 or 1.3 percent for the month but up 15,400 or 8.7 percent for the year. workers put in 36.5 hours per week, up 1 hour 12 minutes for the month and 1 hour 24 minutes for the year, jumps of 3.4 and 4 percent respectively. their earnings rose as well, at $31.93 up 54 cents or 1.7 percent for the month and $1.34 or 4.4 percent for the year.
staff in payroll services numbered 162,500, down 3,000 or 1.8 percent for the month but up 12,400 or 8.3 percent for the year.
they worked 35.7 hours, up 1 hour 18 minutes or 3.8 percent for the month and 1 hour 6 minutes or 3.2 percent for the year. earnings smashed the $28 point for the first time, increasing to $28.52, up $1.13 for the month and $1.18 for the year, up 4.1 and 4.3 percent respectively.
bookkeeping
other accounting services were flat for the month at 265,900, up 2,900 or 1.1 percent for the year.
women
women reached a new height in the profession at 677,400, up 1,600 or 0.2 percent for the month and 39,800 or 6.2 percent for the year. another slight new record was in cpa firms, where women numbered 306,400, up 1,300 or 0.4 percent for the month and 14,300 or 4.9 percent for the year. payroll services employed 101,200 women, up 300 or 0.3 percent for the month and 14,600 or a staggering 16.9 percent for the year.