Finance Industry 2011 Employment Outlook

Kurt Dudycha, Vice President, Client Strategy

1/27/2011

According to experts, the employment forecast for the Finance Industry appears to be on the rise in 2011.

"Budgets are done and companies are ready to hire," says Jonathan Mazzocchi, partner and general manager, accounting and finance division, for Winter, Wyman & Co. "People are getting paid bonuses and getting promotions, or not getting them and jumping ship. It creates more hiring volatility, particularly for middle- and senior-management positions."

According to Bill Driscoll, New England district president of specialized staffing firm Robert Half International, there are three positive signs in the finance hiring arena:

  • A rebound in full-time hiring, which has come back stronger during this recovery than in past recoveries.
  • A steady, sequential growth in temporary hiring, which has been a leading indicator of past recoveries.
  • Rising conversion rates of temporary workers to full-time, permanent finance employment.

New government regulations will boost demand for compliance analysts and tax accountants in 2011, says Brendan Courtney, president of recruiting and staffing agency The Mergis Group, a division of SFN Group in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. "Given everything from Securities and Exchange Commission rule changes to new consumer-protection agencies, companies know there are going to be regulatory and compliance issues coming and they're trying to get ahead of the curve," he says. Another high-demand position: internal auditor. "It's the least glamorous of all the accounting and finance positions because it's considered to be a necessary evil." And, with fewer undergraduates going into accounting, there's a gap between the demand for entry-level internal audit accountants and the number of graduates ready to step into those jobs.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website, jobs for "personal financial advisors are projected to grow by 30% over the 2008—18 period, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. Growing numbers of advisors will be needed to assist the millions of workers expected to retire in the next 10 years." In fact, Financial Adviser was ranked one of "The 50 Best Careers of 2011" by US News & World Report last month.

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