By Michael Fotheringham of James Milne Chartered Accountants
RECRUITING, retaining, and engaging talent is one of the accountancy industry’s main challenges today.
While the pandemic has catalysed this issue, there was undoubtedly a shift occurring long before the emergence of Covid.
In general, people are reassessing and reexamining their lifestyles. The HR Director recently reported that a third of UK workers are considering a career change in 2022 as part of ‘The Great Resignation’.
Businesses that can offer remote or hybrid working are less likely to be affected by resignations. Employers are being encouraged to implement new policies and practices that show how they value the needs of their employees.
So why the recruitment crunch in Accounting?
A recent article from AccountingWEB, suggested that fewer prospective employees have the necessary skills and training to survive in a traditional practice.
And according to Jenny Catlin, head of professional education at Deloitte, in an article published in AccountancyAge in February, standard recruitment methods will not be enough to help accountancy firms bridge talent shortages and skills gaps.
“Graduate recruitment on its own, and recruiting experienced employees on its own, will not help us fill the roles and the skill gaps. We need to be looking into different ways of bringing people in and upskilling them to fill those gaps.”
Catlin suggests that apprenticeships could be the key to fixing talent shortages and plugging skills gaps in Accountancy.
In Case You Missed it:
The view is that apprenticeships can equip young talent with the skills needed for the service industry and help to build well-rounded individuals.
At James Milne, we are grateful to have a low staff turnover. Being in the North East of Scotland, it can be challenging to attract talent from further afield, and we also have stiff competition from the oil & gas industry.
However, thankfully the local areas have always provided us with the expertise needed to be a leading firm of accountants.
