One-third of UK finance and accountancy professionals are not fully satisfied with their current roles and want more from their employers, according to a new survey from Sellick Partnership.
The recruitment specialists carried out a survey of finance and accounting professionals from the North West of England, and found that 36 per cent said they are less than fully satisfied with their jobs, while 35 per cent believe they are either slightly or significantly underpaid.
The survey data also shows that around 23 per cent of people are currently open to new opportunities, indicating that there are a significant number of finance and accounting professionals willing to leave their current employers to find what they are looking for.
The complete findings from this survey can be found here. The survey was carried out by Sellick Partnership to better understand how today’s finance professionals see the current marketplace, and what would motivate them to go looking for a new role.
Sellick Partnership’s survey also provided the following insights into the most important factors that finance and accountancy professionals are looking for employers to provide:
- When asked to identify the most important aspects of a new job offer, the most popular response was salary (57 per cent), followed by flexible working (39 per cent), having a career development plan (38 per cent), a compatible company culture (26 per cent) and mentorship opportunities (26 per cent).
- The most sought-after benefits include pension contributions (46 per cent) and holiday allowances (42 per cent) offered above the statutory minimum, followed by a better bonus structure (38 per cent), flexible working hours (38 per cent) and home working options (32 per cent).
- Candidates would prioritise a better equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) scheme (16 per cent) above better workplace benefits (9 per cent), showing the growing importance of demonstrating strong cultural values.
John Thistlethwaite, senior consultant at Sellick Partnership commented: “The findings of our survey show that a significant percentage of the workforce are not fully satisfied with what their employers are offering them.
“85 per cent of the respondents to our survey have at least three to four years of post-qualification experience,” he added, “including 25 per cent who have worked for more than ten years in the sector. As such, the findings of the survey represent the views of some of the industry’s most well-established and highly qualified staff.”
Thistlethwaite says that in recent years, skilled finance professionals have been in extremely high demand, with the number of vacancies outstripping the supply of available candidates. This has created a candidate-centric hiring market, allowing the most talented applicants to take their pick of the offers available to them.
“As such, there has never been a better time for skilled professionals who are looking to improve on their current roles to consider the offers that may be available to them,” he said. “At the same time, this shows how important it is for employers to do all they can to provide a best-in-class employment package for their prized staff – or else risk losing out in a competitive marketplace.”
